THE CONCEPTUAL FIELD „GLÜCK“ IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE DISCOURSE

The present paper pays a special attention to such terms as “concept” and “conceptual field”, which play an extremely important role in understanding the processes of conceptualization of the reality in human cognition. The interpretation of the conceptual field as a fixed grouping of typologically and semantically homogeneous and hierarchically arranged concepts is substantiated in the study. The principles of modeling the conceptual field “Glück” in the German language discourse are considered. The means of verbalization of the concept “Glück”, namely a set of nominal lexemes for designating positive emotions (the lexeme “Glück” and its synonyms registered in the texts: Glück, Freude, Geschick, Heil, Hochgefühl, Schwein, Segen, Wonne) are under investigation. Based on the analysis of collocations of positively marked emotive nouns with verbs that cover certain areas in the conceptual field under study, the structure of the conceptual field “Glück” in the German language discourse is modeled. The conceptual areas constituting the core, the near and the far periphery are outlined. The degree of connection between different conceptual areas is determined and the areas exhibiting strong, medium or weak connection are found. Correlations between the conceptual areas have been established, each of which, forming figures of various configurations, is considered as a single conceptual complex. The use of methods of structural linguistics in the study of conceptual processes made it possible to obtain relevant objective data on the actualization of the emotional concept “Glück” in the German fiction of the 20th century. In summary, the author’s interpretation of the term “conceptual field” is suggested, which is defined as a set of conceptual spheres (areas) connected by systemic, interrelated and complementary relations, which is represented by the lexical field units (words) and within which units of the lexical level function and realize their meanings. The structure of the conceptual field “Glück” has been determined. The following conceptual areas constitute the core: “verbs of movement and displacement”, “verbs designating occurrence or appearance” and “verbs of spatial localization”. The near periphery is formed by: “action verbs”, “relational semantics verbs”, “stative, processual verbs”, “verbs of being”, and “verbs of mental and social actions of the subject.” The far periphery includes the following conceptual areas: “verbs of sounding and onomatopoeia”, “characterization verbs”, and “modal verbs”. Key words: concept, verbalizers, correlation analysis, conceptual field, conceptual area, core, periphery.

Correlation Scale, Functional Tests and Comorbidities with Episodes in Cerebrovascular Accident

Introduction: In assessing patients with a stroke sequel, tonic and postural changes are generally evaluated, but other important information, such as functional capacity, risk of falls, and gait, should also be taken into account. Objective: To correlate the impairment level determined by Brunnstrom's scale, the results of functional tests and analyze the characteristics of the sample as being affected by comorbidities, time and number of strokes occurred. Methods: Cross-sectional evaluation of 50 patients (convenience) at a center of public rehabilitation, using Brunnstrom's scale (1-6, better limb ability closer to 6), Time Up and Go (TUG) (significant mobility deficit and in risk of falls above 20 seconds), Upright Motor Control Test (UMCT) (1-3, bellow 3 are household walkers), Step Test (ST) (disparity between member refers to slower individuals), registration of comorbidity and the time since the stroke happened and the number of episodes. Results: Grade "4" rated for upper and lower limbs by Brunnstrom's Scale, achieving over 20 seconds in TUG, level 2 in UMCT, and commitment of paretic member related to non-paretic on the ST (p<0.01). There was no influence of the time or number of strokes suffered. The main associations found were hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Conclusion: The Brunnstrom's scale appointed moderate level function impairment for upper and lower limbs. Wherein association with functional tests determines slower and vulnerable individuals, with disability in changing the load support between members, neuromuscular control and balance deficit, fall risk and compromised walking ability.

A multiscale model of the cardiovascular system that incorporates baroreflex control of chronotropism, cell-level contractility, and vascular tone

Multiscale models of the cardiovascular system can provide new insights into physiological and pathological processes. Models that incorporate molecular-level effects may be particularly useful for clinical applications because they can predict the functional consequences of pharmaceuticals that modulate the properties of molecules and/or the rate at which they undergo reactions. PyMyoVent is a computer model that bridges from molecular to organ-level function and simulates a left ventricle pumping blood through the systemic circulation. Initial work with PyMyoVent focused on the End Systolic Pressure Volume Relationship and ranked potential therapeutic strategies by their impact on contractility. This manuscript extends PyMyoVent by adding baroreflex control of arterial pressure. The reflex algorithm is inspired by the underlying biology. It uses an afferent signal derived from arterial pressure to drive a kinetic model that mimics the net result of neural processing in the medulla and cell-level responses to autonomic drive. The kinetic model outputs control signals that are constrained between limits that represent maximum parasympathetic and maximum sympathetic drive and which modulate heart rate, intracellular Ca2+ dynamics, the molecular-level function of both the thick and the thin myofilaments, and vascular tone. Simulations show that the algorithm can regulate mean arterial pressure at set-points ranging from ~30 to ~150 mmHg as well as maintaining arterial pressure when challenged by rapid changes in blood volume or sudden increases in aortic resistance.

Double-Level Energy Absorption of 3D Printed TPMS Cellular Structures via Wall Thickness Gradient Design

This paper investigates the deformation mechanism and energy absorption behaviour of 316 L triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structures with uniform and graded wall thicknesses fabricated by the selective laser melting technique. The uniform P-surface TPMS structure presents a single-level stress plateau for energy absorption and a localized diagonal shear cell failure. A graded strategy was employed to break such localized geometrical deformation to improve the overall energy absorption and to provide a double-level function. Two segments with different wall thicknesses separated by a barrier layer were designed along the compression direction while keeping the same relative density as the uniform structure. The results show that the crushing of the cells of the graded P-surface TPMS structure occurs first within the thin segment and then propagates to the thick segment. The stress–strain response shows apparent double stress plateaus. The stress level and length of each plateau can be adjusted by changing the wall thickness and position of the barrier layer between the two segments. The total energy absorption of the gradient TPMS structure was also found slightly higher than that of the uniform TPMS counterparts. The gradient design of TPMS structures may find applications where the energy absorption requires a double-level feature or a warning function.

Annulment of antagonism shifts properties that are beneficial to plants in two-member consortia of Bacillus velezensis

Bacillus spp. strains that are beneficial to plants are widely used in commercial biofertilizers and biocontrol agents for sustainable agriculture. Generally, functional Bacillus strains are applied as single strain communities since the principles of synthetic microbial consortia constructed with Bacillus strains remain largely unclear. Here, we demonstrated that the mutual compatibility directly affects the survival and function of two-member consortia composed of B. velezensis SQR9 and FZB42 in the rhizosphere. A mutation in the global regulator Spo0A of SQR9 markedly reduced the boundary phenotype with wild-type FZB42, and the combined use of the SQR9Δspo0A mutant and FZB42 improved biofilm formation, root colonization and the production of secondary metabolites that are beneficial to plants. We further confirmed the correlation between the swarm discrimination phenotype between the two consortia members and the effects that are beneficial to plants in a greenhouse experiment. Our results provide evidence that social interactions among bacteria could be an influencing factor in achieving a desired community-level function.

Reliability of joint position sense measured in the knee using the level function of the iPhone “Measure” application

An impaired joint position sense (JPS) causes activity limitations, postural imbalance, and falls. This study compares the reliability of knee JPS measurements between the iPhone’s “Measure” application and VICON motion capture system. Eleven healthy participants were recruited for the study. To conduct the study measures, the blindfolded participant, with an iPhone fixed to the lower non-dominant leg, was seated with their lower limbs in a relaxed position. The examiner held the participant’s leg at the target angle (30°/60° from initial position) for 5 s before releasing it. The participant was then instructed to move the leg to the same target angle and hold it for 5 s (replicated angle). Absolute angular error (AAE), i.e., the difference between the target and replicated angles, was measured. Intraclass and Pearson correlation coefficients established statistically significant relationships. The study comprised 6 males and 5 females of mean age 27.6±5.6 years, mean height 1.67±0.10 m, and mean body weight 60.7±10.3 kg. Strong correlations existed between iPhone and VICON 30° (ICC = 0.969, r = 0.960, P < 0.001) and 60° AAEs (ICC 0.969, r = 0.960, P < 0.001). Bland-Altman plots showed a mean difference of 0.43° and 0.20° between the AAE measurements at 30° and 60°, respectively. The iPhone’s “Measure” application is a simple and reliable method for measuring JPS in clinical practice and sports/fitness settings.

Systematic Analyses of the Expression, Function, and Prognostic Value of CCNBs in Breast Caner

Background Cyclin B (CCNB) family plays key roles in the cell cycle, cell division and proliferation. Three members of CCNB family have been identified, including CCNB1, CCNB2 and CCNB3. Many studies have explored the roles of CCNBs in the tumorigenesis and pathogenesis of different types of cancer. However, the expression level, function, and prognostic value of CCNBs in breast caner (BC) are still unclear.Methods We explored the specific alterations of CCNBs in BC and predicted their prognostic value for BC patients. Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), Kaplan-Meier plotter, cBioPortal, STRING, Database for Annotation,Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) databases were used for above analyses.Results We found that CCNB1 amd CCNB2 were significantly overexpressed in BC compared with normal samples, but not CCNB3. Survival analysis showed that upregulated CCNB1 and CCNB2 expression levels were associated with poor prognosis of BC patients, while high CCNB3 expression was related to good prognosis for BC patients. Furthermore, gene oncology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed to reveal the functions of CCNBs and the interacted genes related to CCNBs. In addition, hsa-miR-139-5p and has-miR-944 were identified to be potentially involved in the regulation of CCNB1.Conclusion Our study suggests that CCNB1, CCNB2 are potential targets of precise therapy for BC patients and that CCNB3 is a novel biomarker for the good prognosis of BC patients.

Why Aggregate? On the Evolution of Aggregative Multicellularity

Microbes have evolved many fascinating and complex ways of interacting with conspecifics. Perhaps one of the most interesting is aggregative multicellularity, wherein independent cells come together and adhere to one another in order to form a larger entity. The fundamental benefits of active aggregation into multicellular groups generally remain unclear, and there are many open questions about what selective pressures led to the evolution of this behavior in various eukaryotic and prokaryotic taxa, most notably the dictyostelids and the myxobacteria. Aggregative multicellularity can be partitioned into three main phases: coming together, staying together as a group, and disaggregation. Different selective pressures may have led to adaptations unique to each phase. While aggregative microbial systems generally form elevated multicellular structures such as fruiting bodies, these can vary in complexity and morphology even among closely related species. What evolutionary forces shaped such morphological diversification remains unknown. Strains that are not genetically identical can coaggregate, which can impact group-level function either positively through functional synergy or negatively through harmful exploitation. Such chimerism within aggregates is likely to have played important roles in shaping the evolution of microbial multicellularity. Much further research is needed into the evolutionary forces and processes leading to and shaping the many forms of microbial aggregation.

Striatal and prefrontal D2R and SERT distributions contrastingly correlate with default-mode connectivity

The molecular substrate of resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) remains poorly understood. We aimed to elucidate interactions of dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) and serotonin transporter (SERT) availabilities in main dopaminergic and serotonergic projection areas with the default-mode network (DMN) and two other resting-state networks (RSNs), the salience (SN) and sensorimotor networks (SMN). We performed simultaneous PET/fMRI scans in rats using [11C]raclopride and [11C]DASB to image D2R and SERT distributions, showing for the first time direct relationships between rs-FC and molecular properties of the rodent brain. We found negative associations between CPu D2R availability and all RSNs investigated. Strikingly, medial prefrontal SERT correlated both positively with anterior DMN rs-FC and negatively with rs-FC between the other networks, underlining serotonin’s intricate role in this region. By further elucidating the link between molecular brain properties and its network-level function, our data support future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.TeaserSimultaneous PET/fMRI indicates direct associations between monoaminergic neurotransmission and brain functional networks.

The dopamine circuit as a reward-taxis navigation system

Research on certain circuits in simple organisms, such as bacterial chemotaxis, has enabled the formulation of mathematical design principles, leading to ever more precise experimental tests, catalyzing quantitative understanding. It would be important to map these principles to the far more complex case of a vertebrate behavioral circuit. Here, we provide such a mapping for the midbrain dopamine system. Dopamine transmission plays a key role in learning, motivation, and movement, but its systems-level function is not fully understood. We develop a minimal mechanistic model of the dopamine circuit based on physiological and behavioral data, and show that it can be mapped mathematically to the bacterial chemotaxis circuit. Just as chemotaxis robustly climbs attractant gradients, the dopamine circuit performs ‘reward-taxis’ where the attractant is the expected value of reward. The reward-taxis mechanism is based on a circuit feature called fold-change detection, where the circuit outputs the temporal logarithmic derivative of expected reward. The model can explain the general matching law, in which the ratio of responses to concurrent rewards goes as the reward ratio to the power β. It provides an accurate mechanistic value for β as the average gain/baseline ratio of the dopaminergic neurons. Reward-taxis provides testable etiologies for specific dopamine-related disorders.