Interview investigation of insecure attachment styles as mediators between poor childhood care and schizophrenia-spectrum phenomenology

Background Insecure attachment styles have received theoretical attention and some initial empirical support as mediators between childhood adverse experiences and psychotic phenomena; however, further specificity needs investigating. The present interview study aimed to examine (i) whether two forms of poor childhood care, namely parental antipathy and role reversal, were associated with subclinical positive and negative symptoms and schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder (PD) traits, and (ii) whether such associations were mediated by specific insecure attachment styles. Method A total of 214 nonclinical young adults were interviewed for subclinical symptoms (Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States), schizophrenia-spectrum PDs (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders), poor childhood care (Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Interview), and attachment style (Attachment Style Interview). Participants also completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and all the analyses were conducted partialling out the effects of depressive symptoms. Results Both parental antipathy and role reversal were associated with subclinical positive symptoms and with paranoid and schizotypal PD traits. Role reversal was also associated with subclinical negative symptoms. Angry-dismissive attachment mediated associations between antipathy and subclinical positive symptoms and both angry-dismissive and enmeshed attachment mediated associations of antipathy with paranoid and schizotypal PD traits. Enmeshed attachment mediated associations of role reversal with paranoid and schizotypal PD traits. Conclusions Attachment theory can inform lifespan models of how adverse developmental environments may increase the risk for psychosis. Insecure attachment provides a promising mechanism for understanding the development of schizophrenia-spectrum phenomenology and may offer a useful target for prophylactic intervention

Beneficios ambientales de la trashumancia: la raza merina (variedad de los Montes Universales) apuesta por el medio ambiente

La trashumancia, entendida como la forma de actividad ganadera más extensiva, en la que el ganado se desplaza a través de las vías pecuarias de forma estacional de unas zonas a otras para el aprovechamiento alternativo de la diversidad de pastos en el momento óptimo de su producción (VVAA, 2013), sigue estando presente en el territorio nacional, aunque de una forma muy residual. Y es que, la cabaña ganadera trashumante se ha reducido enormemente desde el siglo pasado, debido fundamentalmente a causas sociales y económicas. Sin embargo, los movimientos trashumantes conllevan una serie de beneficios tanto de carácter histórico-cultural, por la amplia tradición pastoral existente a lo largo de la historia de España, como de carácter ambiental, a través de los denominados servicios ecosistémicos, en los cuales se ha centrado este estudio. Además, en la mayoría de las ocasiones, dichos movimientos son realizados por rebaños de razas autóctonas, como la Raza Merina (variedad de los Montes Universales), con la rentabilidad económica, social y ambiental que ello conlleva..

Imaging the Electrocyte of Torpedo Marmorata by Scanning Force Microscopy

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to examine the tissue structure of the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata in air and in liquid after applying fracturing and cryosectioning techniques and chemical fixation. The electric organ is organized in columns of stacked electrocytes, arranged in a honeycomb pattern. The columns were cut along a plane normal to the cell stack and thin sections were transferred to polylysine coated glass coverslips. The polarity of the electrocytes was made apparent by immunofluorescence microscopy directed to different domains of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR), thus revealing the innervated face of the cell. SFM and SEM both showed cell surfaces to be overlaid by a network of collagen fibers by their characteristic banding pattern with about 64 nm periodicity and about 2.5 nm corrugation amplitude. In liquid, significantly lower structural resolution was achieved by SFM, probably due to sample elasticity

Análisis comparativo de explotaciones de vacuno de leche especializadas y mixtas en Aragón.

publishedTomo I . Sección: Sistemas Ganaderos-Economía y Gestión. Sesión: Producción de leche. Ponencia nº 2

Avaliação do ciclo de vida da produção de algodão em dois sistemas de rotação de culturas.

Resumo: Os nanomateriais, por suas propriedades físico-químicas únicas, podem estabelecer interações imprevistas com substâncias naturalmente presentes nos componentes ambientais, fazendo-se indispensável a avaliação dos seus potenciais impactos ambientais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a contribuição da fase agrícola da produção de algodão - matéria-prima para obtenção de nanomateriais ? no desempenho ambiental desta tecnologia. Consideraram-se dois sistemas de produção de algodão por plantio direto: em rotação com o milheto e em rotação com soja e capim Mombaça. O método adotado foi a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Para ambos os sistemas, a fase mais impactante foi a produção agrícola de algodão, de modo que para o sistema em rotação com o milheto, maiores efeitos foram encontrados nas categorias de impacto de mudanças climáticas; ecotoxicidade aquática e terrestre; e toxicidade humana. Para o sistema em rotação com soja e capim, os impactos ambientais mais relevantes foram eutrofização de água doce e mudanças climáticas. Notou-se ainda que a soja, pelo fato de ser uma cultura beneficiada pelas bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio, diminui o aporte de fertilizantes nitrogenados, reduzindo os impactos ambientais decorrentes da sua produção

Cholesterol depletion activates rapid internalization of submicron-sized acetylcholine receptor domains at the cell membrane

Novel effects of cholesterol (Chol) on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) cell-surface stability, internalization and function are reported. AChRs are shown to occur in the form of submicron-sized (240–280 nm) domains that remain stable at the cell-surface membrane of CHO-K1/A5 cells over a period of hours. Acute (30 min, 37°C) exposure to methyl-β-cyclodextrin (CDx), commonly used as a diagnostic tool of endocytic mechanisms, is shown here to enhance AChR internalization kinetics in the receptor-expressing clonal cell line. This treatment drastically reduced (∼50%) the number of receptor domains by accelerating the rate of endocytosis (t1/2 decreased from 1.5–0.5 h). In addition, Chol depletion produced ion channel gain-of-function of the remaining cell-surface AChR, whereas Chol enrichment had the opposite effect. Fluorescence measurements under conditions of direct excitation of the probe Laurdan and of Förster-type resonance energy transfer (FRET) using the intrinsic protein fluorescence as donor both indicated an increase in membrane fluidity in the bulk membrane and in the immediate environment of the AChR protein upon Chol depletion. Homeostatic control of Chol content at the plasmalemma may thus modulate cell-surface organization and stability of receptor domains, and fine tune receptor channel function to temporarily compensate for acute AChR loss from the cell surface.Fil: Borroni, Maria Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Unesco; ArgentinaFil: Baier, Carlos Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Lang, T. Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie; Alemania. Institut Max Planck fuer Bioanorganische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Bonini, Ida Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: White, M. M. Drexel University; Estados UnidosFil: Garbus, Ingrid. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Barrantes, Francisco Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Unesco; Argentin

Potential reduction of environmental impacts of ethanol production by the adoption of the "environmental protocol of the sugarenergy sector"

Brazil is the largest producer of ethanol derived from sugarcane in the world. The state of São Paulo, located in the southeastern region of the country accounts for 51% of national production and 16% of world production of ethanol. São Paulo was a pioneer in establishing an Environmental Protocol in 2006, which prohibited the burn of sugarcane straw before manual harvesting. In the season 2013/2014, seven million hectares of sugarcane were no longer harvested with use of fire, avoiding the emission of 26.7 million tons of pollutants and 4.4 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG). In addition to reducing the emission of pollutants, it is expected that the mechanical harvesting promote the reduction of water consumption and the increase in cogeneration of electricity by the straw burn in the boilers at the mills. With the elimination of fire in the field, other conservation practices began to be used, such as the introduction of legumes crops during the reform of the plantation and the adoption of notill systems. The potential benefits of this set of practices are the reduction of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers application and the increase in carbon stocks and water reserve in soil. In this work, we evaluated the potential reduction of environmental impacts resulting from the introduction of these new practices in the production system of sugarcane and ethanol

Avaliação do ciclo de vida da produção de algodão para extração de nanofibras: sistema de produção com plantio direto, em rotação com milheto.

O uso comercial dos nanomateriais pode promover a sua disseminação para os diferentes compartimentos ambientais, trazendo a necessidade de avaliação dos riscos a ele relacionados ao longo de todo o seu ciclo de vida. Este trabalho objetiva a avaliação do desempenho ambiental da fase de produção do algodão e para tanto utiliza a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida como ferramenta. Como principais resultados temos que a fase mais impactante, dentre as consideradas, é a produção agrícola do algodão, com maiores efeitos nas categorias de impacto de Aquecimento Global, Ecotoxicidade Aquática e Terrestre e Toxicidade Humana. Os processos de extração da fibra e de produção da nanofibra serão avaliados na sequência deste trabalho

The oxidative metabolism of sparteine in the Cuna Amerindians of Panama: Absence of evidence for defient metabolizers

Artículo científico -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud, 1988Sparteine sulfate (50 mg) was administered to 170 Cuna Amerindians, 142 of whom were unrelated, and the drug and its dehydrometabolites were determined in the 0- to 12-hour urine samples. The log10 of the metabolic ratio was unimodally, but not normally, distributed and showed the following values: mean 0.21 ± 0.26, median 0.24, limits 0.73 and 0.76, skewness 1.00, and kurtosis 4.95. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that there are no deficient metabolizers in the Cuna sample population studied. However, the similarity of the skewness found between the Cuna sample population studied and the extensive Canadian white group, as well as an inflection point at 6.3 U in the former's probit plot, suggests the existence of at least two subgroups congregating within the same single mode in the frequency distribution curve. The use of the inflection point is discussed thoroughly, concluding that although it does not allow exclusion of the existence of genotypically different subgroups, the limitations of the data do not permit its use to determine the number of heterozygotes and thus the existence of polymorphism. The possibility of an isozyme variant, consistent with the general genetic structure of Amerindians, as suggested by the coexistence of two subgroups within the unimodal curve, is entertained. (CLIN PHARmAcoL THER 1988;43:456-65.)Universidad de Costa Rica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud.Universidad de PanamáUniversidad de TorontoUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA