, a dual intramuscular and intra-arterial autologous BM-MNC impl

, a dual intramuscular and intra-arterial autologous BM-MNC implantation strategy was employed in nine Capmatinib patients for whom limb amputation was recommended. Following the procedure,

there was no significant improvement in ABI. Three (33.3%) underwent major amputations. The remaining six patients demonstrated an improvement in rest pain. Complete wound healing was achieved within 3 months in all patients who had ulcers.27 In a study comparing exclusive IM (n = 12) versus combined IM plus IA (n = 15) delivery of autologous BMC, there were no adverse reactions related to injection of the cells.28 Two patients in the IA plus IM group required limb amputation because of ongoing critical ischemia Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical versus seven patients in the IM group (P = 0.17). The remaining patients had a significant and sustained (>12 months) improvement Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in pain-free walking, mean ABI, and pain scores within 6 weeks follow-up.28 Similar findings were seen in the TAM-PAD study.29 Summary: The Cochrane database included only two small studies (57 patients); these showed

that the treatment groups experienced a greater reduction in rest pain (P < 0.001) and an increase in ABI with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical a statistically significant increase in pain-free walking distance (mean increase 306.4 m versus 78.6 m, P = 0.007) compared to the control groups. However, a smaller proportion of participants underwent amputation in the treatment group compared with the control group (0% versus 36%, P = 0.007).30 The authors stressed the need for further randomized controlled clinical trials to interpret the impact of cell therapy on clinical outcomes. In a meta-analysis

of autologous cell therapy to treat patients with critical limb ischemia, researchers identified 37 trials (controlled and noncontrolled, randomized Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and nonrandomized trials) using autologous bone marrow or granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilized peripheral blood cells.31 Autologous cell therapy was effective in improving Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical surrogate indexes of ischemia, subjective symptoms, and hard endpoints (ulcer healing and amputation). On the contrary, G-CSF monotherapy was Levetiracetam not associated with significant improvement in the same endpoints. Patients with thromboangiitis obliterans showed some larger benefits than patients with atherosclerotic CLI. The intramuscular route of administration and the use of bone marrow cells seemed somehow more effective than intra-arterial administration and the use of mobilized peripheral blood cells. This meta-analysis indicates that intramuscular autologous bone marrow cell therapy is a feasible, relatively safe, and potentially effective therapeutic strategy for PAD patients who are not candidates for traditional revascularization. Cardiovascular Molecular and Cell Therapy Program at Methodist The Cardiovascular Molecular and Cell Therapy Program at The Methodist Hospital is a multidisciplinary program that promotes clinical trials in cardiovascular disease.

We further postulate that the type of mutation, including point,

We further postulate that the type of mutation, including point, substitution, deletion, or deletion-insertion, may affect clinical aggressiveness and prognosis, as well as response to imatinib and sunitinib, with exon 11 deletions having a more aggressive course. Additional research is needed to elucidate the relationship between the type of mutant genotypes, and the site of metastases, clinical aggressiveness, and response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Footnotes No potential conflict of interest.
Gastric cancer is one of the most challenging diseases among all cancer types. It is the fourth most buy MK-0518 common Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical cancer worldwide, with an estimated 934 000 new cases

per year in 2002 (9% of new cases globally), and occurs nearly twice as often in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical men (1). In the United States, mortality due to gastric cancer has declined and five-year relative survival rates improved from 16% to 24% between 1975 and 2002 (2). In Turkey, gastric cancer is the second leading cause of death in men and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in women (3). The anatomical site of origin of gastric cancer among Turkish patients differs Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical from that reported for Western countries, with 48.1% and 41.2% of

cancers in Turkish patients occurring at the antrum and corpus, respectively, and 51.6% of patients having a pathological grade III cancer (4). Surgery is the main treatment modality for gastric cancer. Only in Japan, the majority of patients are surgically treated at stage I (5). The reported median survival benefit in AGC patients receiving chemotherapy is approximately 6 months (6), and the reported benefits of novel chemotherapy regimens for AGC have been shown to not exceed 12 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical months in recent Phase III trials in Western countries (7),(8). Fluorouracil-(5-FU) based chemotherapies are the mainstay of treatment for AGC. Since continuous 5-FU infusion has shown promising results in the treatment of AGC in Phase II trials, combination therapies have been Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical developed (9). Oral fluoropyrimidines are the best alternative to infusional 5-FU in three-drug regimens for AGC. Tegafur (UFT) is an oral fluoropyrimidine and

its antitumor activity is known to generate plasma 5-FU levels that are similar to those of MycoClean Mycoplasma Removal Kit infusional 5-FU (10)-(12). This pilot study was conducted to examine the safety and toxicity of combination chemotherapy consisting of epirubicin, cisplatin, and UFT regimen in chemo-naïve AGC outpatients. Patients and methods Patients Forty-one AGC patients who admitted to Istanbul University Oncology Institute between September 2003 and December 2006 were included in this study. Patients with histologically or surgically proven metastatic or locally advanced inoperable gastric carcinoma were eligible. They were required to have a performance status (PS) level of (0) or (1) according to WHO criteria. There was no age limit.

56 The finding of increased platelet activation may partially con

56 The finding of increased platelet activation may partially contribute to increased CV risk in those already with pre-existing risk factors. Circulating activated platelets play an important role in thrombosis57 and most, but not all, acute coronary occlusions occur as the result of rupture of an unstable atherosclerotic plaque and superimposed thrombus formation58 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical As such, one approach to cardiovascular prevention

for those at increased risk in bereavement could be short-term use of antithrombotic medications, such as aspirin, in the early weeks of bereavement, as has been previously proposed for other transient periods of increased risk.49 The effect of bereavement interventions on physiological correlates Neuroendocrine Specific interventions designed to reduce cortisol response in bereavement have not been reported, although a randomized controlled clinical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical trial that examined the effect of support group sessions on immune response reported significantly lower plasma cortisol levels in the intervention group compared with the control group Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical following 10 weekly 90-minute support group sessions.59

In this study, a reduction in physician visits was also reported in the intervention group,59 although it is unclear which aspect of the intervention contributed to these findings. Sleep To date two intervention approaches to improve sleep in CG have been reported; one a nonpharmacological approach and the other using a tricyclic antidepressant medication. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Findings from one study suggest that a 16-week Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) intervention has the potential to improve sleep, albeit modestly, in individuals suffering CG.60 In this study of 67

bereaved individuals with elevated scores greater than or equal to 30 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief,61 suggestive of intense grief reactions, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical subjects who were randomized to receive the CGT intervention reported lowered grief scores although scores remained elevated in participants after treatment, and they continued to experience clinically significant sleep problems.61 The potential almost effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy was highlighted in another study of 11 recently bereaved family members.62 In this study, the intervention consisted of cognitive behavioral therapy-insomnia (CBT-I) which included educational information about cognitive restructuring, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques and goal setting, and monitoring. Self-reported sleep measures and depression scores decreased over the 5-week intervention period, although sleep selleck inhibitor actigraphy data (that provide limited measures of sleep patterns and circadian rhythms) showed no significant changes over the study period.

For example, it can vary both across the lifespan7 and across gen

For example, it can vary both across the lifespan7 and across generations. Flynn has shown that average IQ, as measured by raw scores (number of items see more answered correctly on an intelligence test), Increased about 3 points every decade In many nations all through the 20th century.8 This article will discuss aspects of intelligence of contemporary importance: theories

of intelligence, biological bases of intelligence, heritability of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical intelligence, and race differences in intelligence. Theories of intelligence There have been many and diverse theories of intelligence, which are reviewed in detail elsewhere. 9 Theories of intelligence have been of several kinds.10 The most visible theories have been psychometric theories, which conceptualize intelligence in terms of a sort of ”map“ of the mind. Such theories specify the underlying structures posited to be fundamental to intelligence, based upon analyses of individual differences in subjects’ performance on psychometric Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical tests. The Cattell, Horn, Carroll (CIIC) theory, described below, is such a theory. These theories Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical have been the basis for most conventional tests of intelligence (“IQ tests”). A more recent type of theory is the systems theory, which attempts to characterize the system of structures and mechanisms

of mind that comprise intelligence. Gardner’s and Sternberg’s theories, described below, are of this kind. A third kind of theory is the biologically based theory, which attempts to account for intelligence in terms of brain-based mechanisms. Different biological accounts are given their own section, immediately following this one. CHC theory Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The most widely accepted theory is a synthesis sometimes referred to as CHC theory, named after Cattell, Horn, and Carroll, 11 the authors of the original theories that have been synthesized. Carroll’s theory itself is a synthesis of earlier psychometric

theories of intelligence. The theory is based largely upon psychometric evidence—that is, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical factor-analytic studies that have sought to uncover sources of individual differences in performance on standardized tests of intelligence (and related constructs). The basic Idea of CHC theory is that there are three strata of intelligence that are hierarchically related to each other. Stratum I includes narrow abilities, Stratum II, broad abilities, and Stratum III, general ability. For the purposes out of this article, the most important abilities are general ability (Stratum III), also referred to as g, and fluid and crystallized ability (Stratum II), also referred to as g-f and g-c. General ability is an overarching ability that is theorized to be relevant to, and involved in, a very wide variety of cognitive tasks. It has been found to be correlated with performance on a very wide range of cognitive functions and life outcomes, such as income, job performance, and even health.

Behavioral performance from an independent working memory capacit

Behavioral performance from an independent working memory capacity measure, the FIT was significantly correlated with brain activity in these regions (Table 2; Table S1). Pattern differences also appeared among regions that showed significant decreases in activity with increasing cognitive load, although the differences were less prominent than those observed in areas associated with working memory. Frontal regions (medial prefrontal cortex) and the posterior Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical cingulate showed a steady deactivation with difficulty, whereas the temporal cortex showed a distinct deactivation between D4 and D5. Correlations between behavioral scores obtained outside of the

scanner and fMRI signal change indicate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that control-task processes click here represent an underlying variable inversely related to task processes, perhaps expressing exchange of resources between working memory (executive control) processes and default-mode (automatic, effortless control) processes. This is consistent with recent work on individual differences Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that suggests that participants with a higher capacity of working memory showed a higher tendency to mind wander during cognitive activities (Levinson et al. 2012). Similarly, cognitive activities that employ partial resources to engage working memory leave some resources available for mind wandering,

which would engage the default-mode areas. Thus, our testing of limits in working memory capacity yields some Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical clarity about dynamic interrelations, interchange, or balance between working memory and default mode. Capacity limits of working memory The number of items adults can hold in mind is debated (Miller 1956; Pascual-Leone 1970; Cowan 2005; Halford et al. 2007). We suggest that normal adults have two capacity limits: an upper bound or reserve of up to 7 items (Miller Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 1956; Pascual-Leone 1970; Pascual-Leone and Johnson 2005,

2011) and a lower bound, or usual functional level, of 4 or 5 units (Cowan 2005; Pascual-Leone and Johnson 2011). As our protocol design encompassed both of these limits (i.e., difficulty levels 3–8) our data can also be used to determine if these limits were valid constructs. Although the relation between activation and task demand could be generally described by linear models, there were a number of DNA ligase areas that showed more of a step function. For instance, brain activity in the precuneus showed a sharp increase between difficulty 4 and 5 whereas the middle frontal gyri (BA 46) showed a steady increase up to difficulty 7 (Fig. 3). These effects suggest nonlinearities between task demand and regional brain activity. As our imaging data were highly correlated with our behavioral data (including FIT task); the effects may be indexing mobilization of different aspects of working memory capacity.

135 A

135 A significant protection against NAA and glutamate loss was demonstrated,

suggesting that NSAIDs can protect against the neuronal pathology in AD. Similarly, dopamine administration, which had been the first-line pharmacologic treatment for PD for many years, reversed the abnormal striatal neurochemical levels (glutamate, glutamine, and GABA) in a PD model Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to WT levels.125 In a SCA1 model, conditional expression of the transgene was utilized to establish the sensitivity of MRS biomarkers to disease reversal.136 Namely, doxycycline treatment to suppress transgene expression was shown to reverse the abnormal neurochemical concentrations towards control levels.136 Furthermore, the potential to monitor Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical treatment effects in

individual mice by utilizing multiple neurochemical levels at once was demonstrated in this study. In addition to longitudinal studies with chronic treatments, MRS can be utilized to monitor acute effects of drugs by obtaining time courses of metabolite levels. For example, neurochemical changes, including Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical transient ones, upon acute phencyclidine (PCP) administration were captured in the rat brain, suggesting that MRS can be used to assess the effects of potential antipsychotic drugs in vivo.137 Similarly, the effects of the antieplleptic drug vigabatrin on GABA levels were Investigated in rat models using MRS,138 and increases similar to those observed in the human brain139 were detected. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Low gyromagnetic ratio nuclei High field capabilities in brain research apply particularly to methodologies based on low gyromagnetic ratio nuclei such as 17O and 23Na imaging, and 13C, and 31P spectroscopy. For lower gyromagnetic nuclei, SNR gains provided by high magnetic fields can be more Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical dramatic than what can be obtained for1Hin large

check details biological samples such as the human brain. For example, the SNR for the 17O nucleus is elevated ~ 4 fold in conducting biological samples, including the rat brain, with magnetic field in going from 4.7 T to 9.4 T140 while relaxation rates do not change. The SNR gain is within experimental error of expected theoretical CYTH4 maximum of 3.4141 for these low frequencies since sample noise does not dominate SNR at these frequencies even in conducting samples. The biological information content in MR studies conducted with such low gyromagnetic nuclei can be unique. For example, the ability to image and quantitatively measure CMRC)2 in the rat140,142-144 and cat145 was demonstrated and used to measure oxygen consumption changes associated with neuronal activity to obtain functional images using 17O MR (Figure 6).

45 However, little evidence currently exists as to whether reduct

45 However, little evidence currently exists as to whether reduction of hippocampal volume is directly due to elevated levels of Cortisol, though it has been postulated that elevated Cortisol may influence

cognitive performance and mood state.46 MS patients are known to have a chronically activated HPA axis,47 and HPA axis activity correlates with progression ratings and cognitive impairment over 3 years.48 In addition, MRI studies28 have shown an association between depression in MS and temporal lobe atrophy (though not specifically hippocampal atrophy). Given the association between depression and both HPA activity and #CDK inhibitors in clinical trials keyword# hippocampal atrophy, the chronic activation of the HPA axis in MS may be one source of these patients’ increased susceptibility to the development of depression. Steroid treatment Consistent with a role for the HPA axis in the mechanism of depression, exogenous corticosteroids have been shown to have powerful mood-altering effects. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Corticosteroids are often used in high doses to treat exacerbations in MS. They are associated with a great number of side effects, including effects on mood.49 Their short-term Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical use often produces an activated state characterized

by increased energy, decreased sleep, and variable euphoria, which can be quite destabilizing to a patient’s mood state. With initial dosing, longterm use, and discontinuation, steroid administration can result in new depressive symptoms as well as dramatic and even life-threatening worsening of mood in those already suffering from depression.50 The effects Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of steroids on mood regulation provides further support for a role of the HPA axis in precipitating depression. The role of inflammation in MS depression The increased incidence of depression in MS may be directly related to the inflammation which is the hallmark of this autoimmune disease. Alterations in the immune function

of depressed patients have been observed for many years, although the precise nature of the changes has been variable, with some reflecting suppression Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and others activation Thymidine kinase of the immune system.51-53 Recent work has demonstrated that depression is associated with an activation of inflammatory pathways, as evidenced by increases in C-reactive protein and other changes.54-57 In MS, depression scores are higher in patients with increased CSF white blood cell counts, in vitro interferon (IFN)-γ production, increased messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IFN-γ, and central nervous system (CNS) inflammation as demonstrated by gadolinium-enhancing lesions on T1-weighted MRI.5,21,58 Cytokines Proinflammatory cytokines are chemical messengers that are produced by immunocompetent cells and mediate communication between cells of the immune system, and are elevated in MS.

BI 253

Figure 4. Average symptom scores of trainees before and after training sessions during the war in Bosnia (October 1994). Figure 5. Average symptom scores of trainees before and after training sessions during the war in Bosnia (September 1995). One could question the usefulness of this type of training if its results were short-lived.

Considering the decay of clinical scores during an ongoing war situation, critics might be right. However, our data show that the effect on our Bosnian colleagues’ depression, despair, and fear was very positive, at least in the short- and mid-term. They certainly recovered enough of their former capabilities, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical which they in turn were able to apply to their patients and family, to carry them – Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical at least for a fewweeks or months – through shelling, hunger, life -threatening events, and expulsion experiences, and – the experience reported as the worst – the daily discovery that friends have given up and left the country as refugees to take themselves and their families to safer places. However, our results also show that the training sessions should have been offered much more frequently. Traumatic stress, such as that experienced in the wake of the recent war in Bosnia, seems to exert an imprinting effect, with devastating consequences on self-processes. One positive aspect, however,

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is that EVP4593 manufacturer persons who share such experiences tend to develop long-lasting bonds and solid friendships. This was verified in both the trainers and the trainees in Bosnia. Selected abbreviations and acronyms DSRS Depression Self-Rating Scale Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical WRTE war-related

traumatic experience PWRS postwar-related stress MITT multiphasic integrative therapy for traumatized people PSS Posttraumatic Stress Symptom scale PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical SCL-90-R Symptom Checklist %-R Notes We are grateful to Volkswagen-Stiftung, Hannover, which supported the studies described in this paper.
In the early part of the twentieth century, science was seen by its practitioners and by professional philosophers as a value-free enterprise.1,2 By careful observation of the phenomena of the world, and by rigorous analysis of their relationships, second the laws of nature would be gradually deciphered and science would resolutely advance. Such advances would, in turn, pave the way for general progress in human affairs. As the century grew older, however, and theoretical physics provided the foundation for the practicalities and horrors of such phenomena as atomic warfare, the line between science and values blurred. Many twentieth-century philosophers have since portrayed science as simply one way of understanding the world, one more game with its own particular rules, no more accurate or appropriate than any other.1,2 Medical science has perhaps the advantage of often appearing intrinsically valuable.

In this method the actual priority is determined by using flow ch

In this method the actual priority is determined by using flow charts which utilizes ‘discriminators’ at each level of priority. Discriminators are factors (general or specific) that discriminate between patients to be allocated to one of the five clinical priorities. There are six general discriminators for triage: life threat, haemorrhage, pain, conscious level, temperature and acuteness. These have to be practiced

at each level of priority and it is essential for the triage officer to understand the triage method. For example: Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Pain can be severe pain, moderate pain and recent pain. Specific discriminators are applicable to individual presentations or to small groups of presentations, which tend to relate to key features of particular conditions. For example: cardiac pain or pleuritic pain. Thus, the specific criteria of triage are based on clinical urgency. Though terminology of categorization differs slightly between the various guidelines, their practical meaning Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is more or less the same. Triage is a brief encounter between triage officer and patient, which takes two to four minutes [34]. Subsequently, the patient is labeled with a colored tag. Depending on this tag, the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical patients are sent to specified areas where they will be consulted by the physicians. While undergoing treatment, the patient

may improve or this website worsen and so may need to be re-triaged and shifted to appropriate area for further Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical treatment. Thus, triage is a continuous process in which clinical characteristics need to be checked regularly to ensure that the priority remains correct. The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) consist of separate guidelines for adult [30] and child [31] patients. In The Manchester Triage Score [17], the level of consciousness in adult and children is considered

separately. A guideline, entitled SALT (sort, assess, life-saving interventions, treatment and/or transport) triage, was developed in 2008; which incorporates aspects from all of the existing triage systems (see Figure ​Figure2)2) to create a single overarching guide for unifying Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the mass casualty triage process across the United States [35]. START triage utilises the use of colours green, yellow, red and black to categorise the patients not (see Figure ​Figure3).3). More importantly, separate guidelines have been developed for potential pandemics like influenza [22,23] and special situations like the use of weapons of mass destruction and bioterrorism [36]. During sudden emergence of ’2009 H1N1 influenza’, web-based self-triage named Strategy for Off-Site Rapid Triage (SORT) was disseminated by H1N1 Response Centre to reduce a potential surge of health system utilization without denying needed care [37]. Figure 2 SALT triage scheme. LSI = Life Saving Interventions. Figure 3 START Triage algorithm for adult patient. Adapted from http://www.start-triage.

4A) This reduced activity in one A3-AO neuron, however, did not

4A). This reduced activity in one A3-AO neuron, however, did not affect the ongoing singing motor activity, indicating that the single A3-AO interneuron is not necessary for the cycle-by-cycle generation of the singing motor

pattern and the spike activity of the contralateral A3-AO neuron was presumably sufficient to transiently maintain the motor output. Interestingly, short hyperpolarizing current pulses (−5 nA; 100–1000 msec duration) in the A3-AO dendrite were immediately followed by additional selleck chemical membrane potential Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical oscillations in this neuron (Fig. 4B). Although the depolarization amplitudes of the post-hyperpolarization response were considerably smaller (2–6 mV) than the opener-phase depolarizations during fictive singing (20–25 mV), A3-AO generated a burst of 3–5 action potentials during each poststimulus depolarization, which elicited a corresponding sequence of syllables in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the motor pattern that reset the ongoing chirp rhythm (Fig. 4B). Figure 4 Effect of A3-AO hyperpolarization on fictive singing. (A) Sustained current

injection with −10 nA reduced and suppressed (asterisks) the spike activity of A3-AO without influencing the ongoing Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical singing motor pattern; arrow indicates a 2-sec gap … The intracellular current injection experiments demonstrated the importance of A3-AO spike activity for the singing pattern generation. By gradual manipulation of its membrane potential, we asked if also subthreshold stimulation would modulate the singing activity. Ramp-like depolarizing and hyperpolarizing current with maximum amplitudes of only +0.5 nA and −0.5 nA was injected into the dendrite of A3-AO. This gently shifted the membrane potential of the neuron without changing the number of syllables per chirp (Fig. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 5A) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical or even the spike activity underlying each syllable (A3-AO spikes per syllable: 0 nA, 4.7 ± 0.6; −0.5 nA, 4.7 ± 0.5; +0.5 nA, 4.6 ± 0.7; mean ± SD; N = 1, n = 25 each). The low-amplitude current injection did not influence the average chirp duration, which remained 176 ± 5 msec throughout the experiment. The duration of the chirp intervals (212 ± 18 msec; mean ± SD before

current injection), however, progressively decreased with increasing depolarization (199 ± 15 msec for 0.1–0.3 nA; 192 ± 13 msec for 0.3–0.5 nA), whereas moderate hyperpolarization had no effect (Fig. 5B). Similarly, the initial syllable Dichloromethane dehalogenase periods within the chirps were modulated by moderate depolarization but not by hyperpolarization (Fig. 5C). With increasing depolarization, the first syllable period in a chirp was lengthened by up to 4 msec, the second syllable period was shortened by up to 2 msec, and the following syllable periods did not change. These subtle modulations of the singing motor pattern indicate that the temporal structure of the motor output does not only depend on the spike activity but also on graded changes in the membrane potential of A3-AO.