Project description:There is a surge of studies confirming that old age spares the ability to bind in visual working memory (VWM) multiple features within singular object representations. Furthermore, it has been suggested that such ability may also be independent of the cultural background of the assessed individual. However, this evidence has been gathered with tasks that use arbitrary bindings of unfamiliar features. Whether age spares memory binding functions when the memoranda are features of everyday life objects remains less well explored. The present study investigated the influence of age, memory delay, and education, on conjunctive binding functions responsible for representing everyday items in VWM. We asked 32 healthy young and 41 healthy older adults to perform a memory binding task. During the task, participants saw visual arrays of objects, colours, or coloured objects presented for 6 s. Immediately after they were asked either to select the objects or the colours that were presented during the study display from larger sets of objects or colours, or to recombine them by selecting from such sets the objects and their corresponding colours. This procedure was repeated immediately after but this time providing a 30 s unfiled delay. We manipulated familiarity by presenting congruent and incongruent object-colour pairings. The results showed that the ability to bind intrinsic features in VWM does not decline with age even when these features belong to everyday items and form novel or well-known associations. Such preserved memory binding abilities held across memory delays. The impact of feature congruency on item-recognition appears to be greater in older than in younger adults. This suggests that long-term memory (LTM) supports binding functions carried out in VWM for familiar everyday items and older adults still benefit from this LTM support. We have expanded the evidence supporting the lack of age effects on VWM binding functions to new feature and object domains (i.e., everyday items). We have confirmed that education does not negatively impact on such ability at old age. Such results have important implications for the selection of culturally unbiased tests to screen for abnormal ageing trajectories.

Project description:Investigation of gene expression in cultured human skin epithelial keratinocytes (HaCaT) following non-thermal plasma treatment for 60 s, compared to untreated control. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has recently gained attention in the field of biomedical and clinical applications. In the area of plasma medicine research one promising approach is to promote wound healing by stimulation of cells involved. To understand basic molecular and cellular mechanisms triggered by plasma treatment we investigated biological effects of an argon plasma jet (kinpen) on human epithelial skin cells. Consequently, whole-genome microarrays were used to analyze this interaction in detail and identified a statistically significant modification of 3,274 genes including 1,828 up- and 1,446 down-regulated genes. Particularly, plasma-treated cells are characterized by differential expression of a considerable number of genes involved in the response to stress. In this regard, we found a plasma-dependent regulation of oxidative stress answer and increased expression of enzymes of the antioxidative defense system (e.g. 91 oxidoreductases). Our results demonstrate that plasma induces cell reactions of stress-sensing but also of proliferative nature. Consistent with gene expression changes as well as Ingenuity Pathway Analysis prediction, we propose that stimulating doses of plasma may protect epithelial skin cells in wound healing by promoting proliferation and differentiation. In conclusion, gene expression profiling may become an important tool in identifying plasma-related changes of gene expression. Our results underline the enormous clinical potential of plasma as a biomedical tool for stimulation of epithelial skin cells We investigated biological effects of an argon plasma jet on HaCaTs. Microarray were used to analyzed this interaction in detail. The transcripts analyzed in this study are further described in Schmidt et al. (2013): Non-thermal plasma treatment is associated with changes in transcriptome of human epithelial skin cells. Accepted in Journal Free Radical Research

Project description:Investigation of gene expression in cultured human skin epithelial keratinocytes (HaCaT) following non-thermal plasma treatment for 60 s, compared to untreated control. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has recently gained attention in the field of biomedical and clinical applications. In the area of plasma medicine research one promising approach is to promote wound healing by stimulation of cells involved. To understand basic molecular and cellular mechanisms triggered by plasma treatment we investigated biological effects of an argon plasma jet (kinpen) on human epithelial skin cells. Consequently, whole-genome microarrays were used to analyze this interaction in detail and identified a statistically significant modification of 3,274 genes including 1,828 up- and 1,446 down-regulated genes. Particularly, plasma-treated cells are characterized by differential expression of a considerable number of genes involved in the response to stress. In this regard, we found a plasma-dependent regulation of oxidative stress answer and increased expression of enzymes of the antioxidative defense system (e.g. 91 oxidoreductases). Our results demonstrate that plasma induces cell reactions of stress-sensing but also of proliferative nature. Consistent with gene expression changes as well as Ingenuity Pathway Analysis prediction, we propose that stimulating doses of plasma may protect epithelial skin cells in wound healing by promoting proliferation and differentiation. In conclusion, gene expression profiling may become an important tool in identifying plasma-related changes of gene expression. Our results underline the enormous clinical potential of plasma as a biomedical tool for stimulation of epithelial skin cells We investigated biological effects of an argon plasma jet on HaCaTs. Microarray were used to analyzed this interaction in detail. The transcripts analyzed in this study are further described in Schmidt et al. (2013): Non-thermal plasma treatment is associated with changes in transcriptome of human epithelial skin cells. Accepted in Journal Free Radical Research A study using total RNA recovered from at least 8 non-thermal plasma treated samples (300 ms*M-BM-5l/cell) and untreated HaCaT controls.

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Non-thermal plasma disinfecting procedure is harmless to delicate items of everyday use.

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Non-thermal plasma disinfecting procedure is harmless to delicate items of everyday use.

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