Connexin-36 protects against suddent infant death syndrome

The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the main cause of postneonatal infant death; however the etiology of SIDS remains ill defined. The hypothesis that SIDS, or a subset of SIDS, is due to an abnormal brainstem mechanism is one of the current leading hypotheses on SIDS etiology. The brainstem is essential for cardiac and respiratory function, controlling autonomic and homeostatic responses including breathing, central chemosensitivity, heartbeat and blood pressure, all mechanisms that are thought to be involved in SIDS. Connexin-36 (Cx36), the principal component of neuron-to-neuron channels that form the electrical synapses, is present in the specific neural populations of brainstem region involved in the CO2 chemoreception and respiratory control, and its expression is unregulated during this critical period of life. Accordingly, we postulate that Cx36 would be a key element in the pathogenesis of SIDS. To address this issue we have studied how the genetic suppression of Cx36 expression affects to the respiratory pacemaker, central chemoreflexes, cardiorespiratory coupling, and risk for SIDS. Mice lacking Cx36 at postnatal day 14 showed in comparison with control wild-type greater variability in the respiratory rhythmicity, abnormally enhanced ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia, more cardiorespiratory phase synchronization and less respiratory sinus arrhythmia. A combination of low O2 and high CO2 content in inspired air was used as exogenous stressor of SIDS; under these conditions all wild-type mice survived while the 40% of Cx36-knockout animals succumbed by respiratory failure

Genotype-by-Environment Interaction in Interspecific \u3cem\u3eUrochloa\u3c/em\u3e Hybrids Using Factor Analytic Models

Environmental factors can influence plant phenotypes shaping the expression of pastures. The ability to test genotypes in multiple environments is critical in a breeding program because important traits are heavily influenced by the environment. Nutritional quality is critical in forage breeding because it affects the rate of live weight gain in livestock as well as the quality of end products such as milk and meat. However, there is not much information on the environmental effect on agronomic and nutritional quality traits in tropical forages. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to investigate the genotype-by-environment interaction in a breeding population of interspecific Urochloa hybrids evaluated for agronomic and nutritional quality traits across four locations in Colombia, using factor analytic mixed models. Phenotypic correlations among traits ranged from 0.26 (plant area vs dry weight) to 0.93 (fresh weight vs dry weight), indicating a strong interaction in some traits. Genetic correlations among environments showed different ranges depending on the variable evaluated. For example, plant height genetic correlations among environments ranged from 0.16 to 0.9, indicating high genotype-byenvironment interaction. The factor analytic analysis revealed that two factors explained more than 60% of the genetic variance in all traits evaluated and that 80% of the environments were clustered in the first factor. Factor analytic biplot indicates that Llanos location differed strongly from other locations evaluated. Based on the results obtained, the factor analytic analysis is a useful tool to stratify environments and identify Urochloa cultivars adapted to different ecological niches

Operating conditions of lead-acid batteries in the optimization of hybrid energy systems and microgrids

The promotion and deployment of storage technologies in autonomous and grid-connected systems plays a relevant part in the massive integration of renewable power sources required for the worldwide development of a sustainable society. In this regard, analyzing the behavior of electrochemical storage devices such as lead-acid batteries installed on hybrid energy systems and microgrids in terms of their lifetime and economic profitability is an important research topic. Since renewable generation is characterized by its random nature, lead-acid batteries typically work under stress conditions, which directly influence their lifetime in a negative way by increasing the net present cost. Due to the fast growing of renewable sources as a consequence of governmental policies and incentives, the number of manufacturers to be considered worldwide is becoming really high, so that optimization techniques such as genetic algorithms (GAs) are frequently used in order to consider the performance of a high number of manufacturers of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and lead-acid batteries subject to the environmental conditions of the location under analysis to determine a cost-effective design. In this paper, GA method combined with weighted Ah ageing model is improved by including expert experiences by means of stress factors and the categorization of operating conditions, as a new contribution to earlier studies. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by analyzing a hybrid energy system to be installed in Zaragoza, Spain, resulting in a near-optimal design in a reduced computational time compared to the enumerative optimization method

Design and preliminary results from a high temperature superconducting SQUID milliscope used for non-destructive evaluation

The authors present the design and preliminary results from a SQUID milliscope. The device was designed for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) as part of the Enhanced Surveillance Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory and uses a high temperature superconducting (HTS) SQUID sensor to map magnetic fields induced in the sample. Eddy currents are induced in the conducting sample by a wire coil designed to produce minimal magnetic field at the SQUID when no sample is present. The features of interest are characterized by anomalies in the induced magnetic field. The goal of the instrument is sensitivity to small features generally buried under several intervening layers ({approximately}1--10 mm) of conducting and/or non-conducting materials and robustness of design (i.e., the ability to operate in a noisy, unshielded environment). The device has primarily focused on specific NDE problems such as the ability to detect buried seams in conducting materials and quantify the width of these seams. The authors present the design of the instrument, and some data to demonstrate its capabilities

Physical education at preschools: practitioners’ and children’s engagements with physical activity and health discourses

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in British Journal of Sociology of Education on December 2013, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01425692.2013.848780This paper focuses on one aspect of a qualitative study concerned with investigating the place and meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners and children at three preschools in Scotland. We examine the ways in which the participants engaged with discourses related to physical activity and health in order to construct their subjectivities. Fourteen practitioners and 70 children participated. Research methods employed were observations, interviews with adults, a group drawing and discussion activity with children, and interviews with children. Both the adults’ and children’s talk illustrated the dominance of neoliberal, healthism meanings which position individuals as responsible for their own health. While the children’s talk primarily centred on health as a corporeal notion, the practitioners tended to talk about physical activity and health in both corporeal terms and in relation to the self more holistically. The practitioners also talked about physical activity as a means of regulating children’s behaviour

La comunidad en relación a la calidad de vida y el papel del educador para la salud

Quality of life is a state of general satisfaction that is determined by factors such as health, housing, interpersonal relationships, the environment, including the community. Depending on how good our relationship with the community is, how developed it is and how satisfied we feel being part of the community can influence people's well-being positively or negatively. Within the development of the community and the improvement of the quality of life is the role and work of the health educator, whose objective is to educate people so that they can develop fully, promote health, improving living conditions. The objective of this article is to make known the influence of the community on the quality of life, the real panorama of the communities at present and the role that the health educator should play in the improvement of the standard of living. To conclude, it should be noted that the quality of life is affected by the determinants of the community, the health educator is very important for the individual and collective well-being of people, a lot of work should be done to improve the communities and the development of the skills of the population. La calidad de vida es un estado de satisfacción general que se ve determinada por factores como la salud, la vivienda, las relaciones interpersonales, el medio ambiente, incluyendo la comunidad. Dependiendo de que tan buena es nuestra relación con la comunidad, que tan desarrollada este y cuan satisfecho nos sintamos formando parte de la comunidad, puede influir en el bienestar de las personas de manera positiva o negativa Dentro del desarrollo de la comunidad y el mejoramiento de la calidad de vida se encuentra el rol y trabajo que ejerce el educador para la salud, cuyo objetivo es el de educar a las personas para que puedan desarrollarse plenamente, promover la salud, mejorando las condiciones de vida.  El objetivo de este artículo es dar a conocer la influencia de la comunidad sobre la calidad de vida, el panorama real de las comunidades en la actualidad y el papel que debe ejercer el educador para la salud en el mejoramiento del nivel de vida. Para finalizar, se debe tener en cuenta que la calidad de vida se ve afectada por los determinantes de la comunidad, en este sentido el educador juega un rol importante para el bienestar individual, colectivo de las personas, se debe trabajar mucho en el mejoramiento de las comunidades y el desarrollo de las habilidades de la población.&nbsp