Light hadron, Charmonium(-like) and Bottomonium(-like) states

Hadron physics represents the study of strongly interacting matter in all its manifestations and the understanding of its properties and interactions. The interest on this field has been revitalized by the discovery of new light hadrons, charmonium- and bottomonium-like states. I review the most recent experimental results from different experiments.Comment: Presented at Lepton-Photon 2011, Mumbai, India; 21 pages, 18 figures; add more references; some correctio

The Child and the Couple: From Zero to Fifteen

This paper presents an exploratory study of two contrasting cases observed longitudinally, using the different versions of the LTP procedure from infancy to adolescence, to evaluate the continuity of family processes, coparenting, and children's triangular communication. Two cases, matched for SES and gender of the children, were selected from a sample of 50 volunteer families. One family had a functional alliance, while the other had a detouring coalition. We begin with descriptions of the family interactions, the coparenting alliance and the children's triangular communication at 18 months, followed by brief descriptions of their LTPs at 3 and 9 months as well as at 5 years. Finally, we present the LTP for adolescents and their parents, which involves a discussion task rather than play (LTP/Discussion). Detailed excerpts contrast the interactions of the two families once the children were 15 years old. These descriptions show the continuity of family processes, particularly "three-way" communication in the family with a functional alliance vs. "two-against one" communication in the family with a coalition. Data from microanalysis of gaze and affect, during the LTP/Discussion, provide a second way of assessing communication patterns. The microanalysis revealed great discrepancies between the families at adolescence, not only in terms of the pattern of gaze interaction, but also with respect to the valence of affects. In the functional alliance, fun and affection dominated and gaze patterns were typical of three-way communication. Gaze patterns of restricted communication, lack of empathy and hostility characterised the detouring coalition

Placental programming of anxiety in adulthood revealed by Igf2-null models

Imprinted, maternally silenced insulin-like growth factor-2 is expressed in both the foetus and placenta and has been shown to have roles in foetal and placental development in animal models. Here we compared mice engineered to be null for the placenta-specific P0 transcript (insulin-like growth factor-2-P0 KO) to mice with disruptions of all four insulin-like growth factor-2 transcripts, and therefore null for insulin-like growth factor-2 in both placenta and foetus (insulin-like growth factor-2-total KO). Both models lead to intrauterine growth restriction but dissociate between a situation where there is an imbalance between foetal demand and placental supply of nutrients (the insulin-like growth factor-2-P0 KO) and one where demand and supply is more balanced (the insulin-like growth factor-2-total KO). Increased reactivity to anxiety-provoking stimuli is manifested later in life only in those animals where there is a mismatch between placental supply and foetal demand for nutrients during gestation. Our findings further distinguish placental dysfunction from intrauterine growth restriction and reveal a role for the placenta in long-term programming of emotional behaviour