Environmental enrichment results in both brain connectivity efficiency and selective improvement in different behavioral tasks

Exposure to environmental enrichment (EE) has been a useful model for studying the effects of experience on brain plasticity, but to date, few is known about the impact of this condition on the brain functional networks that probably underlies the multiple behavioral improvements. Hence, we assessed the effect of an EE protocol in adult Wistar rats on the performance in several behavioral tasks testing different domains (Open field (OP): locomotor activity; Elevated-zero maze (EZM): anxiety-related behaviors; 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT): attentional processes; 4-arm radial water maze (4-RAWM): spatial memory) in order to check its effectiveness in a wide range of functions. After this, we analyzed the functional brain connectivity underlying each experimental condition through cytochrome C oxidase (COx) histochemistry. Our EE protocol reduced both locomotor activity in the OP and anxiety-related behaviors in the EZM. On the other hand, enriched rats showed more accuracy in the 4-RAWM, whereas 5-CSRTT performance was not significantly ameliorated by EE condition. In relation to COx functional connectivity, we found that EE reduced the number of strong positive correlations both in basal and training conditions, suggesting a modulating effect on specific brain connections. Our results suggest that EE seems to have a selective effect on specific brain regions, such as prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, leading to a more efficient brain connectivity.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/3

Aborto epidémico y endémico asociado a la infección por Neospora caninum en el ganado bovino: relación entre la respuesta inmune y las consecuencias de la infección a lo largo de la gestación

Neospora caninum es un protozoo intracelular obligado perteneciente al Phylum Apicomplexa. La neosporosis bovina se considera una de las principales causas de fallo reproductivo en el ganado bovino. La transmisión transplacentaria del parásito puede originar aborto ó el nacimiento de terneros congénitamente infectados. La transmisión transplacentaria endógena ocurre tras la recrudescencia de una infección crónica en la hembra durante la gestación, mientras que la exógena se da tras una primoinfección adquirida de forma postnatal. Un mayor conocimiento de la epidemiología, integrado con el empleo de adecuadas técnicas de diagnóstico serológico son la base del control. El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar mediante diferentes pruebas diagnósticas la relación existente entre la respuesta serológica desarrollada por reproductoras bovinas infectadas a lo largo de una gestación, el origen de la infección y sus repercusiones reproductivas.Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite. At present bovine neosporosis is one of the main causes of reproductive failure in cattle worldwide. Transplacental transmission of the parasite can lead to abortion or birth of congenitally infected calves. Endogenous transplacental transmission occurs as a consequence of the recrudescence of a previous chronic infection in the cow during gestation. On the other hand, exogenous transplacental transmission occurs after an acquired postnatal primo infection. Control programmes are based on updated knowledge about the epidemiology together with the employment of appropriate diagnostic serological tests. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between the serologic response developed by infected breeding cattle along gestation, the mode of transmission and the future consequences in reproduction

Development of indices of larval bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the western Mediterranean sea

Fishery independent indices of bluefin tuna larvae in the western Mediterranean Sea are presented utilizing ichthyoplankton survey data collected from 2001 through 2005 by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. Indices were developed using larval catch rates collected using two different types of bongo gear by employing a delta-lognormal modeling approach, including following covariates: water temperature at 25 m, salinity at 25 m, water depth, time of day, geostrophic water velocities, year, and a gear variable for the combined modelSe presentan índices de larvas de atún rojo independientes de la pesquería en el mar Mediterráneo occidental utilizando datos de prospecciones de ictioplancton recopilados desde 2001 hasta 2005 por el Instituto Español de Oceanografía. Los índices se desarrollaron utilizando tasas de captura larval recopiladas utilizando dos tipos diferentes de red bongo y empleando un enfoque delta-lognormal de modelación, que incluía las siguientes covariables: temperatura del agua a 25 m, salinidad a 25 m, profundidad del agua, hora del día, velocidad del agua geostrófica, año y una variable de arte para el modelo combinad

Benchmarking the Variational Quantum Eigensolver through Simulation of the Ground State Energy of Prebiotic Molecules on High-Performance Computers

We use the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) as implemented in the Qiskit software package to compute the ground state energy of small molecules derived from water, H$_2$O, and hydrogen cyanide, HCN. The work aims to benchmark algorithms for calculating the electronic structure and energy surfaces of molecules of relevance to prebiotic chemistry, beginning with water and hydrogen cyanide, and to run them on the available simulated and physical quantum hardware. The numerical calculations of the algorithms for small quantum processors allow us to design more efficient protocols to be run in real hardware, as well as to analyze their performance. Future implementations on accessible quantum processing prototypes will benchmark quantum computers and provide tests of quantum advantage with heuristic quantum algorithms.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, MIPT2020, Moscow, 7-11 September 2020, AIP Proceedings (Table III corrected; ref. [16] updated

Adsorption of representative pharmaceutical compounds from hospital wastewater by carbon materials

Pharmaceuticals are a class of emerging environmental contaminants that are extensively and increasingly being used in human and veterinary medicine. The worldwide consumption of these substances has increased in both hospitals and households, which represents a major concern in terms of their potential harmful effects on the environment and human health [1]. Thus, fluoroquinolone antibiotics are widely used in human medicine and animal breeding for preventing and curing diseases. Ciprofloxacin is a wide-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic extensively used in the world, which can generate high contributions to public sewers. Meanwhile, carbamazepine, one of the most widely prescribed psychoactive drugs, shows important endocrine disrupting effects and it is frequently detected in high concentrations in both WWTPs effluents and river water. Because of the removal efficiency of these compounds in the conventional wastewater treatment plants is not complete (ranging from 7-8% for carbamazepine), it is necessary the implementation of tertiary technologies in order to achieve WWTPs effluents with a better quality. Adsorption onto carbon materials has proven as an efficient treatment in the removal of a broad spectrum of micro-pollutants. This work has been focused on the study of equilibrium adsorption of carbamazepine (CBZ) and ciprofloxacin (CPX) from ultrapure water at 30 ºC using carbonaceous materials. Commercial carbon materials (AC-F400 activated carbon, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, MWNT, and carbon nanofibers, CNF) and lab-synthesized activated carbons from peach stones (AC-PS) and rice husk (AC-RH) as precursors have been used. Moreover, carbon adsorbents have been used to treat a real hospital wastewater containing 55 different pharmaceutical compounds. Among them, both CBZ and CPX were found at concentrations of 162.55 and \u3e 40 ng.L-1, respectively. The removal efficiency of quality macroscopic parameters (Total Organic Carbon concentration, TOC, Total Nitrogen concentration, TN, carbonates, CO32-, and aromaticity) and each of the pharmaceuticals contained in the wastewater was evaluated. Large adsorption capacities of CBZ and CPX (around 240 and 200 mg.g-1) were found in 4 hours, using adsorbent doses ranging from 2-3 g.L-1, natural pH, temperature of 30 ºC and stirring rate of 250 rpm. In addition, competitive adsorption experiments using both pollutants in ultrapure water have been performed. The bi-component adsorption systems were reasonably well-fitted by the extended Freundlich model equation. In the treatment of the hospital wastewater, a maximum TOC reduction of 96.5% ([TOC]0 = 110 mg L-1) was achieved by adsorption onto AC-RH activated carbon, since all the studied macroscopic parameters were too efficiently removed. Moreover, by the adsorption treatment, the complete disappearance of all the pharmaceutical compounds (except two of them) was observed. References [1] S. Ortiz de García, G. Pinto Pinto, P. García Encina, R. Irusta Mata, Consumption and occurrence of pharmaceutical and personal care products in the aquatic environment in Spain, Sci. Total Environ. 444 (2013) 451–465

Synthesis and pharmacology of alkanediguanidinium compounds that block the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Taking as models the polyamine toxin fraction FTX from the funnel-web spider venom, and the guanidinium moiety of guanethidine, a series of azaalkane-1,omega-diguanidinium salts were obtained. Some of them blocked ion fluxes through the neuronal nicotinic receptors for acetylcholine (nAChR). The blockade was exerted at submicromolar concentrations, suggesting a highly selective interaction with the nAChR. In fact, the active compounds on the nAChR ion channel did not recognize the voltage-dependent Na+ or Ca2+ channels of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. Therefore, these compounds may be useful tools to clarify the functions of nAChR receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems.Fundación Ramón Arece

Solitary fibrous tumor surrounding the carotid sheath

Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare spindle cell neoplasms that are mostly found arising from the pleura. Although SFTs recently have been reported in other regions, they are rare in the head and neck and have often been misdiagnosed due to their rarity. SFTs are benign in most cases. Clinically, SFTs usually manifest as wellcircumscribed, slow-growing, smooth and painless masses. Symptoms are often minimal, although they may include sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, change of voice or trismus. CT-Scan and MRI are the most sensitive imaging procedures used. The treatment of choice is complete surgical excision of the lesion. Because recurrences have been noted up to 30 years after surgery, long-term follow up is mandatory. In this article, we present a case of a Solitary Fibrous Tumor arising in the parapharyngeal space in a 20-year-old man, involving the carotid sheath, treated by surgical excision with no recurrence after 1 year. The clinical presentation, surgical management and pathological findings are described

OptEEmAL: Decision-Support Tool for the Design of Energy Retrofitting Projects at District Level

Designing energy retrofitting actions poses an elevated number of problems, as the definition of the baseline, selection of indicators to measure performance, modelling, setting objectives, etc. This is time-consuming and it can result in a number of inaccuracies, leading to inadequate decisions. While these problems are present at building level, they are multiplied at district level, where there are complex interactions to analyse, simulate and improve. OptEEmAL proposes a solution as a decision-support tool for the design of energy retrofitting projects at district level. Based on specific input data (IFC(s), CityGML, etc.), the platform will automatically simulate the baseline scenario and launch an optimisation process where a series of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) will be applied to this scenario. Its performance will be evaluated through a holistic set of indicators to obtain the best combination of ECMs that complies with user's objectives. A great reduction in time and higher accuracy in the models are experienced, since they are automatically created and checked. A subjective problem is transformed into a mathematical problem; it simplifies it and ensures a more robust decision-making. This paper will present a case where the platform has been tested.This research work has been partially funded by the European Commission though the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 680676. All related information to the project is available at https://www.opteemal-project.eu