Gut microbes shape microglia and cognitive function during malnutrition

Fecal-oral contamination promotes malnutrition pathology. Lasting consequences of early life malnutrition include cognitive impairment, but the underlying pathology and influence of gut microbes remain largely unknown. Here, we utilize an established murine model combining malnutrition and iterative exposure to fecal commensals (MAL-BG). The MAL-BG model was analyzed in comparison to malnourished (MAL mice) and healthy (CON mice) controls. Malnourished mice display poor spatial memory and learning plasticity, as well as altered microglia, non-neuronal CNS cells that regulate neuroimmune responses and brain plasticity. Chronic fecal-oral exposures shaped microglial morphology and transcriptional profile, promoting phagocytic features in MAL-BG mice. Unexpectedly, these changes occurred independently from significant cytokine-induced inflammation or blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, key gut-brain pathways. Metabolomic profiling of the MAL-BG cortex revealed altered polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) profiles and systemic lipoxidative stress. In contrast, supplementation with an ω3 PUFA/antioxidant-associated diet (PAO) mitigated cognitive deficits within the MAL-BG model. These findings provide valued insight into the malnourished gut microbiota-brain axis, highlighting PUFA metabolism as a potential therapeutic target

Performance evaluation and model checking of probabilistic real-time actors

This dissertation is composed of two parts. In the first part, performance evaluation and verification of safety properties are provided for real-time actors. Recently, the actor-based language, Timed Rebeca, was introduced to model distributed and asynchronous systems with timing constraints and message passing communication. A toolset was developed for automated translation of Timed Rebeca models to Erlang. The translated code can be executed using a timed extension of McErlang for model checking and simulation. In the first part of this dissertation, we induce a new toolset that provides statistical model checking of Timed Rebeca models. Using statistical model checking, we are now able to verify larger models against safety properties comparing to McErlang model checking. We examine the typical case studies of elevators and ticket service to show the efficiency of statistical model checking and applicability of our toolset. In the second part of this dissertation, we enhance our modeling ability and cover more properties by performance evaluation and model checking of probabilistic real-time actors. Distributed systems exhibit probabilistic and nondeterministic behaviors and may have time constraints. Probabilistic Timed Rebeca (PTRebeca) is introduced as a timed and probabilistic actor-based language for modeling distributed real-time systems with asynchronous message passing. The semantics of PTRebeca is a Timed Markov Decision Process (TMDP). We provide SOS rules for PTRebeca, and develop two toolsets for analyzing PTRebeca models. The first toolset automatically generates a TMDP model from a PTRebeca model in the form of the input language of the PRISM model checker. We use PRISM for performance analysis of PTRebeca models against expected reachability and probabilistic reachability properties. Additionally, we develop another toolset to automatically generate a Markov Automaton from a PTRebeca model in the form of the input language of the Interactive Markov Chain Analyzer (IMCA). The IMCA can be used as the back-end model checker for performance analysis of PTRebeca models against expected reachability and probabilistic reachability properties. We present the needed time for the analysis of different case studies using PRISM-based and IMCA-based approaches. The IMCA-based approach needs considerably less time, and so has the ability of analyzing significantly larger models. We show the applicability of both approaches and the efficiency of our tools by analyzing a few case studies and experimental results.Þessi ritgerð er tvískipt. Í fyrri hlutanum er farið í mat og sannprófun á eiginleikum öryggis í rauntímalíkönum. Fyrir stuttu síðan var leikendabyggða málið, Timed Rebeca, notað við líkana dreifingu og ósamstillt kerfi með tímastillingu og samskipti í skilaboðum. Búið var til verkfærasett fyrir sjálfvirka þýðingu á Timed Rebeca líkön yfir í Erlang. Hægt er að nota þýdda kóðann með því að nota tímastillta framlengingu af McErlang fyrir líkanaprófun og hermun. Í fyrri hluta þessarar ritgerðar, ætlum við að kynna verkfærasettið sem veitir tölfræðilega prófun á líkön á Timed Rebeca líkön. Með því að nota tölfræðileg próf á líkön er núna hægt að sannreyna stærri líkön eins og í öryggiskröfum McErlang. Við rannsökum dæmigerðar ferilsathuganir af lyftum og miðasölu til að sýna fram á skilvirkni tölfræðilegra líkana og beitingu verkfærasettsins okkar. Í seinni hluta þessarar ritgerðar aukum við við getu líkanagerðarinnar og við náum yfir fleiri eiginleika með mati á framkvæmd og prófunum á líkönum á líkinda rauntíma leikara. Dreifð kerfi sýna líkindi og brigðgenga hegðun sem kunna að hafa tímamörk. Probabilistic Timed Rebeca (PTRebeca) er kynnt sem tímastillt og líkinda leikarabyggt mál líkindadreifðra rauntímakerfa með ósamstillta sendingu skilaboða. Merkingarfræði PTRebeca er Timed Markov Decision Process (TMDP). Við verðum með SOS reglur fyrir PTRebeca, og þróum tvö verkfærasett til að greina PTRebeca líkön.The work on this dissertation was supported by the project "Timed Asynchronous Reactive Objects in Distributed Systems: TARO" (nr.110020021) of the Icelandic Research Fund

Variability of Listeria monocytogenes response to high hydrostatic pressure: a case study on meat products

Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud, los alimentos contaminados con bacterias, virus, parásitos o sustancias químicas, son la causa de más de 200 enfermedades. Se estima que aproximadamente dos millones de personas mueren anualmente como consecuencia de enfermedades relacionadas con el consumo de agua o los alimentos contaminados. Las enfermedades alimentarias son una amenaza para el desarrollo socioeconómico de las regiones, en tanto que desgastan los sistemas de atención sanitaria y conducen a malnutrición, fundamentalmente entre los grupos de población de niños, mayores e inmunodeprimidos. La globalización ha desencadenado una creciente demanda en la variedad alimentaria lo que resulta en una cadena alimentaria cada vez más compleja. Además, los cambios en el estilo de vida de la población, han incrementado el consumo de productos listos para consumir, lo que genera un aumento del riesgo de contaminación alimentaria por Listeria monocytogenes.According to World Health Organization, unsafe food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances, causes more than 200 diseases. Annually, around 2 million people died by the consequences of food- and waterborne diseases. Foodborne diseases are a threat for the socioeconomic development of the regions, straining health care systems, leading to malnutrition particularly in infants, children, elderly and immune-compromised people. Globalization has triggered growing consumer demand for a wider variety of foods, resulting in an increasingly complex food chain. In addition, changes in consumer habits have increased the number of people consuming ready-to-eat food products, increasing the risk of contaminated food with Listeria monocytogenes

2018 Fall - Seek - full issue (PDF)

Fall 2018 issue of See

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13): The Imminent Threat Inside Our Borders and Throughout the Continent

For the past decade, citizens, governments, and scholars alike have expressed ongoing concerns about the increasing rates of violent crimes committed by drug traffickers, organized criminal groups, and gangs within the United States and Central America. The gang Mara Salvatrucha, familiarly known as MS-13, arguably presents the largest threat to national and regional security. The gang’s relatively recent emergence, growth, and expansion has raised serious concern. The criminal group is responsible for a multitude of crimes that directly threaten the welfare of citizens and state security from the suburbs of Washington D.C. to slums in Central American. This gang’s coast-to-coast presence plagues cities and communities across the United States, claiming territory in at least 42 states. MS-13 now claims 10,000 members in the U.S. and 70,000 Latin American members across the entire American continent (FBI 2008). The U.S. government’s concerns about gangs have heightened with the increasing growth of MS-13, both in membership and sophistication. Congress maintains an interest in crime and gang violence in Central America, as well as the related activities of the U.S. branches of MS-13 within our borders. Central American governments, the media, and some scholars have attributed a significant proportion of violent crime plaguing the region to the recent globalization of U.S. gang culture. This thesis provides a current overview of the threat posed by MS-13, as well its historical origins and evolution as a criminal organization. The first half analyzes the birth of the gang in Los Angeles in the 1980s and the political factors contributing to MS-13’s continental migration south over the past two decades. American criminal deportations play an important role in the transnational nature of MS-13 and will be analyzed. Many blame U.S. deportation policies for the globalization of the gang and fueling the current gang epidemic in Central America. Subsequently, the context in which the gang operates within Central America, specifically in El Salvador is examined. Many scholars and government officials agree that the suppressive policies enacted by Central American states, specifically the Mano Dura (“hard hand”) laws have failed at countering both MS-13 membership and its associated crime and violence. The latter half of this thesis focuses on the evolution of U.S. policy responses, at the international level, enacted to address the security implications posed by MS-13. The concern of this thesis is not whether the U.S. government is responding but rather if its responses are designed and implemented thoughtfully so that the limited funding is allocated effectively. Policy-makers in the U.S. and Central American are struggling to find the right combination of suppressive and preventive policies to combat MS-13. Most analysts agree that a more comprehensive, regional approach to the sophisticated gang is necessary to prevent further escalation of the problems created by the gang’s illicit activity

Formal Modeling and Analysis of Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Fokkink, W.J. [Promotor]Luttik, S.P. [Copromotor

Policy Solutions and International Perspectives on the Funding of Public Service Media Content for Children: A Report for Stakeholders

This project on Policy Solutions and International Perspectives on the Funding of Public Service Media Content for Children began on 8 February 2016 and concludes on 31 May 2016. Its outcomes contribute to the policy-making process around BBC Charter Review, which has raised concerns about the financial sustainability of UK-produced children’s screen content. The aim of this project is to evaluate different funding possibilities for public service children’s content in a more challenging and competitive multiplatform media environment, drawing on experiences outside the UK. The project addresses the following questions: • What forms of alternative funding exist to support public service content for children in a transforming multiplatform media environment? • What can we learn from the types of funding and support for children’s screen content that are available elsewhere in the world – in terms of regulatory foundations, administration, accountability, levels of funding, amounts and types of content supported? • How effective are these funding systems and funding sources for supporting domestically produced content (range and numbers of projects supported; audience reach)? This stakeholder report constitutes the main outcome of the project and provides an overview and analysis of alternatives for supporting and funding home-grown children’s screen content across both traditional broadcasting outlets and emerging digital platforms. The report has been made publicly available, so that it can inform policy work and responses to the UK Government White Paper, A BBC for the Future, published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in May 2016