(J Vasc Surg 2012;56:1107-9.)”
“Appetitive stimuli such PLX-4720 mw as monetary incentives often improve performance whereas aversive stimuli such as task-irrelevant negative stimuli frequently impair performance. But our understanding of how appetitive and aversive processes simultaneously

contribute to brain and behavior is rudimentary. In the current fMRI study, we investigated interactions between reward and threat by investigating the effects of monetary reward on the processing of task-irrelevant threat stimuli during a visual discrimination task. Reward was manipulated by linking fast and accurate responses to foreground stimuli with monetary reward; threat was manipulated by pairing the background context with mild aversive shock. The behavioral results in terms of both accuracy and reaction time revealed that monetary reward eliminated the influence of threat-related stimuli. Paralleling the behavioral results, during trials involving both reward and threat, the imaging data revealed increased engagement of the ventral caudate and anterior mid-cingulate cortex, which were accompanied

by increased task-relevant processing in the visual cortex. Overall, our study illustrates how the simultaneous processing of appetitive and aversive information shapes both behavior and brain responses. (c) 2013 Elsevier click here Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“This study describes the subcellular distribution of glutathione in roots and leaves of different plant species (Arabidopsis, Cucurbita, and Nicotiana). Glutathione is an important antioxidant and redox buffer which is involved in many metabolic processes including plant defense. Thus information on the subcellular distribution in these model plants especially during stress situations provides a deeper insight into compartment specific defense reactions and reflects the occurrence of compartment specific oxidative stress. With immunogold cytochemistry and computer-supported transmission

electron microscopy glutathione could be localized in highest contents in mitochondria, followed by nuclei, peroxisomes, the cytosol, and plastids. Within chloroplasts and mitochondria, glutathione was restricted to the stroma and matrix, respectively, Histidine ammonia-lyase and did not occur in the lumen of cristae and thylakoids. Glutathione was also found at the membrane and in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. It was also associated with the trans and cis side of dictyosomes. None or only very little glutathione was detected in vacuoles and the apoplast of mesophyll and root cells. Additionally, glutathione was found in all cell compartments of phloem vessels, vascular parenchyma cells (including vacuoles) but was absent in xylem vessels. The specificity of this method was supported by the reduction of glutathione labeling in all cell compartments (up to 98%) of the glutathione-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana rml1 mutant.