108 research outputs found
The Absence of Caspase-8 in the Dopaminergic System Leads to Mild Autism-like Behavior
In the last decade, new non-apoptotic roles have been ascribed to apoptotic caspases. This family of proteins plays an important role in the sculpting of the brain in the early stages of development by eliminating excessive and nonfunctional synapses and extra cells. Consequently, impairments in this process can underlie many neurological and mental illnesses. This view is particularly relevant to dopamine because it plays a pleiotropic role in motor control, motivation, and reward processing. In this study, we analyze the effects of the elimination of caspase-8 (CASP8) on the development of catecholaminergic neurons using neurochemical, ultrastructural, and behavioral tests. To do this, we selectively delete the CASP8 gene in cells that express tyrosine hydroxylase with the help of recombination through the Cre-loxP system. Our results show that the number of dopaminergic neurons increases in the substantia nigra. In the striatum, the basal extracellular level of dopamine and potassium-evoked dopamine release decreased significantly in mice lacking CASP8, clearly showing the low dopamine functioning in tissues innervated by this neurotransmitter. This view is supported by electron microscopy analysis of striatal synapses. Interestingly, behavioral analysis demonstrates that mice lacking CASP8 show changes reminiscent of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Our research reactivates the possible role of dopamine transmission in the pathogenesis of ASD and provides a mild model of autism.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RTI2018-098645-B-I00, PID2019-109569GB-I00, RTI2018-099778-B-I00Junta de Andalucía P18-RT-1372, US-1264806, PI-0080-2017, PI-0009-2017, PI-0134-2018, PEMP-0008-2020, P20_00958, CTS-510Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI18/01691Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias Biomédicas de Cádiz-INiBICA LI19/06IN-CO22, IN-C09European Union 95568
The Effect of a Physical Activity Program on the Total Number of Primary Care Visits in Inactive Patients: A 15-Month Randomized Controlled Trial
Abstract
Background: Effective promotion of exercise could result in substantial savings in healthcare cost expenses in terms of
direct medical costs, such as the number of medical appointments. However, this is hampered by our limited knowledge of
how to achieve sustained increases in physical activity.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of a Primary Health Care (PHC) based physical activity program in reducing the total
number of visits to the healthcare center among inactive patients, over a 15-month period.
Research Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Subjects: Three hundred and sixty-two (n = 362) inactive patients suffering from at least one chronic condition were
included. One hundred and eighty-three patients (n = 183; mean (SD); 68.3 (8.8) years; 118 women) were randomly allocated
to the physical activity program (IG). One hundred and seventy-nine patients (n = 179; 67.2 (9.1) years; 106 women) were
allocated to the control group (CG). The IG went through a three-month standardized physical activity program led by
physical activity specialists and linked to community resources.
Measures: The total number of medical appointments to the PHC, during twelve months before and after the program, was
registered. Self-reported health status (SF-12 version 2) was assessed at baseline (month 0), at the end of the intervention
(month 3), and at 12 months follow-up after the end of the intervention (month 15).
Results: The IG had a significantly reduced number of visits during the 12 months after the intervention: 14.8 (8.5). The CG
remained about the same: 18.2 (11.1) (P = .002).
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that a 3-month physical activity program linked to community resources is a shortduration,
effective and sustainable intervention in inactive patients to decrease rates of PHC visits.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0071483
Research Group on Sedimentary Record of Climatic Changes– SERCC
[EN] SERCC was created at the end of 2021 in response to the recent incorporation of the IGME as a National Centre of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the need to converge to CSIC´s research organization, which is structured on Research Groups as basic units. SERCC is composed of 11 persons (6 Staff Scientists – 3 of them recently promoted to Scientific Researchers, 4 Specialized Technicians and 1 Predoctoral Student), and focuses on the imprint of past climate changes on the characteristics and properties of the sedimentary record, accumulated both in marine and continental realms.Peer reviewe
Radon (222Rn) outgassing in San Juan volcanic tubes during the Cumbre Vieja eruption 2021, and preliminary values in the new volcanic tubes
Comunicación oral presentada en el 1st European Meeting on Geomicrobiology of volcanic caves. días 2-3 de marzo de 2023 celebrado en la Casa de la Ciencia-CSIC de SevillaDuring the eruption at Cumbre Vieja ridge (La Palma, Canary Islands, 2021) a radon (222Rn) detector (CORENTIUM Pro alpha particles counter) was emplaced inside the “Las Palomas” lava tube (San Juan eruption, 1949). In addition, a CO2 meter logger was emplaced to determine relationships between the 2021 eruption and radon plus CO2 inner fluxes. There is a geostructural relationship between the 1949 and 2021 eruptions, probably connected by a previous fault, shown the volcanic vents’ alignment trending NW-SE. In October 2021, the radon and CO2 loggers were moved to the upper part of the lava tube, in the San Juan volcanic vent (Llano del Banco hollow dyke). Once the eruption ended (in early 2022) both loggers were placed in one newly formed lava tube, and data will be collected in February 2023. Preliminary results show daily average radon values ranging between 2 - 9 Bq/m3, although sporadic peaks of about 270 and 650 Bq/m3 were recorded related to volcano-tectonic earthquakes and volcanic intensity. In general, basaltic eruptions of alkaline affinity show low radon values due to the low concentration in the magma body of uranium and related chemical elements (Th, Ra, etc.). Geochemical analysis of emitted lavas shows a U concentration of about 1 to 5 ppm (μg/g) and Th 9.5 ppm. Summer values of Rn increased up to 3 KBq/m3, related to the climate conditions instead of volcanic activity.This study was funded by the project CSIC 20223PAL002 “Investigación Geológica de la Erupción de 2021 en Cumbre Vieja” and partially by the project FAMRAD (PID2020-113407RB-I00): Geochemical modeling of seismic prediction from endogenous gas emission (222Rn, CO2, CH4), and earthquakes by using radioactive caves and boreholes in the Alhama de Murcia fault.N
Analizando la cinética de las remagnetizaciones por enterramiento. El caso de la Cuenca turbidítica de Jaca (Pirineos occidentales).
X Congreso Geológico de España, 5-7 Julio 2021, Vitoria - GasteizLas remagnetizaciones químicas regionales relacionadas con procesos de enterramiento y diagénesis son un proceso ampliamente
extendido en cuñas orogénicas y cuencas sedimentarias. Este proceso conlleva la neoformación autigénica de minerales
ferromagnéticos s.l. en relación con el aumento de temperatura asociado al enterramiento. Sin embargo, todavía no se
conoce bien la cinética de estos procesos, debido en parte a que la mayoría de las remagnetizaciones de este tipo descritas
en la literatura científica se produjeron durante supercrones magnéticos. Los materiales turbidíticos eocenos de la Cuenca de
Jaca (Pirineos Occidentales) muestran una remagnetización química de doble polaridad, registrando varios crones a lo largo
de la secuencia sedimentaria remagnetizada. Dentro del proyecto UKRIA4D (PID2019-104693GB-I00/CTA), se va a realizar
un estudio multidisciplinar para relacionar temperatura de enterramiento, mineralogía magnética y edad de la remagnetización
con la que evaluar de manera empírica las relaciones cinéticas entre los distintos factores
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger
Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers.
These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of
the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray
energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30
to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of
the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is
determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated
using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due
to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components.
The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of
the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the
AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air
shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy
-- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy
estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the
surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator
scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent
emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for
the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at
least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy
We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio
emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate
energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of
15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV
arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling
quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from
state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our
measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric
energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with
our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector
against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI.
Supplemental material in the ancillary file
Dietary intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans, adiposity and obesity status
Introduction: The principal source of exposure to Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans (PCDD/Fs) in humans comes from food intake. PCDD/Fs, are a family of potential endocrine disruptors and have been associated with different chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. However, studies assessing the relationship between dietary exposure to PCDD/Fs and adiposity or obesity status in a middle-aged population are limited. Objective: To assess cross-sectionally and longitudinally the associations between estimated dietary intake (DI) of PCDD/Fs and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and the prevalence/incidence of obesity and abdominal obesity in a middle-aged population. Methods: In 5899 participants aged 55-75 years (48% women) living with overweight/obesity from the PREDIMED-plus cohort, PCDD/Fs DI was estimated using a 143-item validated food-frequency questionnaire, and the levels of food PCDD/F expressed as Toxic Equivalents (TEQ). Consequently, cross-sectional and prospective associations between baseline PCDD/Fs DI (in pgTEQ/week) and adiposity or obesity status were assessed at baseline and after 1-year follow-up using multivariable cox, logistic or linear regression models. Results: Compared to participants in the first PCDD/F DI tertile, those in the highest tertile presented a higher BMI (β-coefficient [confidence interval]) (0.43kg/m2 [0.22; 0.64]; P-trend <0.001), a higher waist circumference (1.11 cm [0.55; 1.66]; P-trend <0.001), and a higher prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity (1.05 [1.01; 1.09] and 1.02 [1.00; 1.03]; P-trend = 0.09 and 0.027, respectively). In the prospective analysis, participants in the top PCDD/F DI baseline tertile showed an increase in waist circumference compared with those in the first tertile after 1-year of follow-up (β-coefficient 0.37 cm [0.06; 0.70]; P-trend = 0.015). Conclusion: Higher DI of PCDD/Fs was positively associated with adiposity parameters and obesity status at baseline and with changes in waist circumference after 1-year of follow-up in subjects living with overweight/obesity. Further large prospective studies using a different population with longer follow-up periods are warranted in the future to strengthen our results. Keywords: Abdominal obesity; Adiposity; Endocrine disrupting chemicals; Obesity; Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans (PCDD/F)
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