NPARSEC : NTT Parallaxes of Southern Extremely Cool objects. Goals, targets, procedures and first results

The discovery and subsequent detailed study of T dwarfs have provided many surprises and pushed the physics and modelling of cool atmospheres in unpredicted directions. Distance is a critical parameter for studies of these objects to determine intrinsic luminosities, test binarity and measure their motion in the Galaxy. We describe a new observational programme to determine distances across the full range of T-dwarf subtypes using the New Technology Telescope (NTT)/SOFI telescope/instrument combination. We present preliminary results for ten objects, five of which represent new distances.Peer reviewe

How manipulating task constraints in small-sided and conditioned games shapes emergence of individual and collective tactical behaviours in football: A systematic review

Background: Small-Sided and Conditioned Games are characterised by modifications of field dimensions, number of players, rules of the game, manipulations used to shape the key task constraints that performers need to satisfy in practice. Evidence has already demonstrated the importance of designing practice to enhance understanding of tactical behaviours in football, but there is a lack of information about how coaches can manipulate task constraints to support tactical learning. Objective: To investigate which task constraints have been most often manipulated in studies of SSCGs; and what impact each manipulation had on emerging tactical behaviours, technical–tactical actions, and positional relationships between players. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Scielo, and Academic Google databases were searched for relevant reports without time limits. The criteria adopted for inclusion were: a) studies performed with football players; b) studies that included SSCGs as an evaluation method; c) studies that investigated tactical behaviours in SSCGs; and d), articles in English and Portuguese. Results: The electronic database search included 24 articles in the review. Of these, five manipulated field dimensions, six manipulated number of players involved, five manipulated field dimensions and number of players, five used different scoring targets, two altered the number of players and scoring target, and one manipulated the number of players, field dimension, and scoring target. Conclusion: Among the task constraints analyzed in this systematic review, manipulation of number of players and playing field dimensions concomitantly occurred most frequentl

How manipulating task constraints in small-sided and conditioned games shapes emergence of individual and collective tactical behaviours in football: A systematic review

Background: Small-Sided and Conditioned Games are characterised by modifications of field dimensions, number of players, rules of the game, manipulations used to shape the key task constraints that performers need to satisfy in practice. Evidence has already demonstrated the importance of designing practice to enhance understanding of tactical behaviours in football, but there is a lack of information about how coaches can manipulate task constraints to support tactical learning. Objective: To investigate which task constraints have been most often manipulated in studies of SSCGs; and what impact each manipulation had on emerging tactical behaviours, technical–tactical actions, and positional relationships between players. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Scielo, and Academic Google databases were searched for relevant reports without time limits. The criteria adopted for inclusion were: a) studies performed with football players; b) studies that included SSCGs as an evaluation method; c) studies that investigated tactical behaviours in SSCGs; and d), articles in English and Portuguese. Results: The electronic database search included 24 articles in the review. Of these, five manipulated field dimensions, six manipulated number of players involved, five manipulated field dimensions and number of players, five used different scoring targets, two altered the number of players and scoring target, and one manipulated the number of players, field dimension, and scoring target. Conclusion: Among the task constraints analyzed in this systematic review, manipulation of number of players and playing field dimensions concomitantly occurred most frequentl

VVV High proper motion stars I. The catalogue of bright Ks stars

The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 464(1): 1247-1258, January 2017, DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw2357, first published on line September 16, 2016, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of MNRAS.Knowledge of the stellar content near the Sun is important for a broad range of topics ranging from the search for planets to the study of Milky Way structure. The most powerful method for identifying potentially nearby stars is proper motion (PM) surveys. All old optical surveys avoid, or are at least substantially incomplete, near the Galactic plane. The depth and breadth of the "Vista Variables in Via Lactea" (VVV) near-IR survey significantly improves this situation. Taking advantage of the VVV survey database, we have measured PMs in the densest regions of the MW bulge and southern plane in order to complete the census of nearby objects. We have developed a custom PM pipeline based on VVV catalogues from the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit (CASU), by comparing the first epoch of JHKs with the multi-epoch Ks-bands acquired later. Taking advantage of the large time baseline between the 2MASS and the VVV observations, we also obtained 2MASS-VVV PMs. We present a near-IR proper motion catalogue for the whole area of the VVV survey, which includes 3003 moving stellar sources. All of these have been visually inspected and are real PM objects. Our catalogue is in very good agreement with the proper motion data supplied in IR catalogues outside the densest zone of the MW. The majority of the PM objects in our catalogue are nearby M-dwarfs, as expected. This new database allow us to identify 57 common proper motion binary candidates, among which are two new systems within ~30pc of the Sun.Peer reviewe

CPEB4–CLOCK crosstalk during temporal lobe epilepsy

Objective: Posttranscriptional mechanisms are increasingly recognized as important contributors to the formation of hyperexcitable networks in epilepsy. Messenger RNA (mRNA) polyadenylation is a key regulatory mechanism governing protein expression by enhancing mRNA stability and translation. Previous studies have shown large-scale changes in mRNA polyadenylation in the hippocampus of mice during epilepsy development. The cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding protein CPEB4 was found to drive epilepsy-induced poly(A) tail changes, and mice lacking CPEB4 develop a more severe seizure and epilepsy phenotype. The mechanisms controlling CPEB4 function and the downstream pathways that influence the recurrence of spontaneous seizures in epilepsy remain poorly understood. Methods: Status epilepticus was induced in wild-type and CPEB4-deficient male mice via an intra-amygdala microinjection of kainic acid. CLOCK binding to the CPEB4 promoter was analyzed via chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and melatonin levels via high-performance liquid chromatography in plasma. Results: Here, we show increased binding of CLOCK to recognition sites in the CPEB4 promoter region during status epilepticus in mice and increased Cpeb4 mRNA levels in N2A cells overexpressing CLOCK. Bioinformatic analysis of CPEB4-dependent genes undergoing changes in their poly(A) tail during epilepsy found that genes involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms are particularly enriched. Clock transcripts displayed a longer poly(A) tail length in the hippocampus of mice post-status epilepticus and during epilepsy. Moreover, CLOCK expression was increased in the hippocampus in mice post-status epilepticus and during epilepsy, and in resected hippocampus and cortex of patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy. Furthermore, CPEB4 is required for CLOCK expression after status epilepticus, with lower levels in CPEB4-deficient compared to wild-type mice. Last, CPEB4-deficient mice showed altered circadian function, including altered melatonin blood levels and altered clustering of spontaneous seizures during the day. Significance: Our results reveal a new positive transcriptional–translational feedback loop involving CPEB4 and CLOCK, which may contribute to the regulation of the sleep–wake cycle during epilepsy.H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Grant/Award Number:766124 and 796600; Irish Research Council, Grant/Award Number:GOIPD/2020/806; Programa de Atracción de Talento de la Comunidad de Madrid, Grant/Award Number: 2020-T2/BMD- 20180; Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number:16/RC/3948 and 17/CDA/4708;Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness/Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Grant/Award Number: PID2021- 123141OB- I0

Pck1 Gene Silencing in the Liver Improves Glycemia Control, Insulin Sensitivity, and Dyslipidemia in db/db Mice

OBJECTIVE—Cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C; encoded by Pck1) catalyzes the first committed step in gluconeogenesis. Extensive evidence demonstrates a direct correlation between PEPCK-C activity and glycemia control. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the metabolic impact and their underlying mechanisms of knocking down hepatic PEPCK-C in a type 2 diabetic model

Variability between laboratories performing coagulation tests with identical platforms: a nationwide evaluation study.

BACKGROUND While the assessment of analytical precision within medical laboratories has received much attention in scientific enquiry, the degree of as well as the sources causing variation between them remains incompletely understood. In this study, we quantified the variance components when performing coagulation tests with identical analytical platforms in different laboratories and computed intraclass correlations coefficients (ICC) for each coagulation test. METHODS Data from eight laboratories measuring fibrinogen twice in twenty healthy subjects with one out of 3 different platforms and single measurements of prothrombin time (PT), and coagulation factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XIII were analysed. By platform, the variance components of (i) the subjects, (ii) the laboratory and the technician and (iii) the total variance were obtained for fibrinogen as well as (i) and (iii) for the remaining factors using ANOVA. RESULTS The variability for fibrinogen measurements within a laboratory ranged from 0.02 to 0.04, the variability between laboratories ranged from 0.006 to 0.097. The ICC for fibrinogen ranged from 0.37 to 0.66 and from 0.19 to 0.80 for PT between the platforms. For the remaining factors the ICC's ranged from 0.04 (FII) to 0.93 (FVIII). CONCLUSIONS Variance components that could be attributed to technicians or laboratory procedures were substantial, led to disappointingly low intraclass correlation coefficients for several factors and were pronounced for some of the platforms. Our findings call for sustained efforts to raise the level of standardization of structures and procedures involved in the quantification of coagulation factors

Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age