Involvement of BDNF in Age-Dependent Alterations in the Hippocampus

It is known since a long time that the hippocampus is sensitive to aging. Thus, there is a reduction in the hippocampal volume during aging. This age-related volume reduction is paralleled by behavioral and functional deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory tasks. This age-related volume reduction of the hippocampus is not a consequence of an age-related loss of hippocampal neurons. The morphological changes associated with aging include reductions in the branching pattern of dendrites, as well as reductions in spine densities, reductions in the densities of fibers projecting into the hippocampus as well as declines in the rate of neurogenesis. It is very unlikely that a single factor or a single class of molecules is responsible for all these age-related morphological changes in the hippocampus. Nevertheless, it would be of advantage to identify possible neuromodulators or neuropeptides that may contribute to these age-related changes. In this context, growth factors may play an important role in the maintenance of the postnatal hippocampal architecture. In this review it is hypothesized that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a factor critically involved in the regulation of age-related processes in the hippocampus. Moreover, evidences suggest that disturbances in the BDNF-system also affect hippocampal dysfunctions, as e.g. seen in major depression or in Alzheimer disease

Study of refractive structure in the inelastic 16O+16O scattering at the incident energies of 250 to 1120 MeV

The data of inelastic 16O+16O scattering to the lowest 2+ and 3- excited states of 16O have been measured at Elab = 250, 350, 480, 704 and 1120 MeV and analyzed consistently in the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA), using the semi- microscopic optical potentials and inelastic form factors given by the folding model, to reveal possible refractive structure of the nuclear rainbow that was identified earlier in the elastic 16O+16O scattering channel at the same energies. Given the known transition strengths of the 2+ and 3- states of 16O well determined from the (e,e') data, the DWBA description of the inelastic data over the whole angular range was possible only if the absorption in the exit channels is significantly increased (especially, for the 16O+16O(2+) exit channel). Although the refractive pattern of the inelastic 16O+16O scattering was found to be less pronounced compared to that observed in the elastic scattering channel, a clear remnant of the main rainbow maximum could still be seen in the inelastic cross section at Elab = 350 - 704 MeV.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Enlarged infarct volume and loss of BDNF mRNA induction following brain ischemia in mice lacking FGF-2

FGF-2, a potent multifunctional and neurotrophic growth factor, is widely expressed in the brain and upregulated in cerebral ischemia. Previous studies have shown that intraventricularly or systemically administered FGF-2 reduces the size of cerebral infarcts. Whether endogenous FGF-2 is beneficial for the outcome of cerebral ischemia has not been investigated. We have used mice with a null mutation of the fgf2 gene to explore the relevance of endogenous FGF-2 in brain ischemia. Focal cerebral ischemia was produced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO). We found a 75% increase in infarct volume in fgf2 knock-out mice versus wild type littermates (P < 0.05). This difference in the extent of ischemic damage was observed after 24 h, and correlated with decreased viability in fgf2 mutant mice following MCA occlusion. Increased infarct volume in fgf2 null mice was associated with a loss of induction in hippocampal BDNF and trkB mRNA expression. These findings indicate that signaling through trkB may contribute to ameliorating brain damage following ischemia and that bdnf and trkB may be target genes of FGF-2. Together, our data provide the first evidence that endogenous FGF-2 is important in coping with ischemic brain damage suggesting fgf2 as one crucial target gene for new therapeutic strategies in brain ischemia

Sistema de apoyo al control de proyectos y recursos

Tesis Ingeniería en Computación e Informática.El presente proyecto tiene como objetivo dar solución a la problemática que tiene la empresa Radar Asesores Limitada, como el de no tener un control sobre sus proyectos y tareas, no contar con un historial de los proyectos realizados, no tener almacenada la información de los proyectos en un solo lugar y también tener una mala asignación de los recursos humanos para los proyectos. Dentro de los servicios que brinda la empresa Radar están: Diseño Gráfico Corporativo, Desarrollo de aplicaciones a medida, Diseño Industrial, Asesorías Informáticas, entre otros. El área que este proyecto impactará será la de Desarrollo de Proyectos e Informática, la cual es la encargada de todos los proyectos de la empresa. Para desarrollar esta tesis se tomaron todos los requerimientos específicos, tanto funcionales como no funcionales y una vez obtenidos estos requerimientos se llegó a un acuerdo, de cuales serían los términos del proyecto para lograr una plena satisfacción de la empresa

Johann des Mittleren, Grafen zu Nassau-Katzenellenbogen, Heerfahrt nach Livland, und sein Aufenthalt daselbst in den Jahren 1601 und 1602, so wie Briefe und Urkunden über die damaligen Verhältnisse des Landes

http://www.ester.ee/record=b3787552*es

Nuclear rainbow scattering and nucleus-nucleus potential

Elastic scattering of alpha-particle and some tightly-bound light nuclei has shown the pattern of rainbow scattering at medium energies, which is due to the refraction of the incident wave by a strongly attractive nucleus-nucleus potential. This review gives an introduction to the physics of the nuclear rainbow based essentially on the optical model description of the elastic scattering. Since the realistic nucleus-nucleus optical potential (OP) is the key to explore this interesting process, an overview of the main methods used to determine the nucleus-nucleus OP is presented. The refractive rainbow-like structures observed in other quasi-elastic scattering reactions have also been discussed. Some evidences for the refractive effect in the elastic scattering of unstable nuclei are presented and perspectives for the future studies are discussed

Structure of 10Be from the 12C 12C,14O 10Be reaction

The 12C 12C,14O two proton pick up reaction has been measured at 211.4 MeV incident energy to study the structure of states of 10Be up to excitation energies of 12 MeV. The measured partial angular distributions show pronounced oscillatory shapes, which were described by coupled reaction channels calculations. Spin parity assignments could be derived from these characteristic shapes and two definite assignments have been made. The state at 11.8 MeV has been identified as the 4 member of the ground state band, and the state at 10.55 MeV is assigned J pi 3 . At 5.96 MeV only the 1 1 member of the known 2 2 1 1 doublet is populated. The angular distribution of the peak at 9.50 MeV, which consists of several unresolved states, has been unfolded using contributions from known states at 9.56 MeV, 2 , and 9.27 MeV, 4 . The inclusion of a state at 9.4 MeV reported by Daito it et al. from the 10B t,3He 10Be reaction and tentatively assigned 3 improved the fit considerably. A K 2 band is formed with the 2 2 state as the band head and the 3 state as the second member. The structures of the K pi 0 1, 2 2, and 1 1 bands are discusse