Vortex Glass and Vortex Liquid in Oscillatory Media

We study the disordered, multi-spiral solutions of two-dimensional homogeneous oscillatory media for parameter values at which the single spiral/vortex solution is fully stable. In the framework of the complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGLE) equation, we show that these states, heretofore believed to be static, actually evolve on ultra-slow timescales. This is achieved via a reduction of the CGLE to the evolution of the sole vortex position and phase coordinates. This true defect-mediated turbulence occurs in two distinct phases, a vortex liquid characterized by normal diffusion of individual spirals, and a slowly relaxing, intermittent, ``vortex glass''.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

FGFR1 and PROKR2 rare variants found in patients with combined pituitary hormone deficiencies.

The genetic aetiology of congenital hypopituitarism (CH) is not entirely elucidated. FGFR1 and PROKR2 loss-of-function mutations are classically involved in hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH), however, due to the clinical and genetic overlap of HH and CH; these genes may also be involved in the pathogenesis of CH. Using a candidate gene approach, we screened 156 Brazilian patients with combined pituitary hormone deficiencies (CPHD) for loss-of-function mutations in FGFR1 and PROKR2. We identified three FGFR1 variants (p.Arg448Trp, p.Ser107Leu and p.Pro772Ser) in four unrelated patients (two males) and two PROKR2 variants (p.Arg85Cys and p.Arg248Glu) in two unrelated female patients. Five of the six patients harbouring the variants had a first-degree relative that was an unaffected carrier of it. Results of functional studies indicated that the new FGFR1 variant p.Arg448Trp is a loss-of-function variant, while p.Ser107Leu and p.Pro772Ser present signalling activity similar to the wild-type form. Regarding PROKR2 variants, results from previous functional studies indicated that p.Arg85Cys moderately compromises receptor signalling through both MAPK and Ca(2) (+) pathways while p.Arg248Glu decreases calcium mobilization but has normal MAPK activity. The presence of loss-of-function variants of FGFR1 and PROKR2 in our patients with CPHD is indicative of an adjuvant and/or modifier effect of these rare variants on the phenotype. The presence of the same variants in unaffected relatives implies that they cannot solely cause the phenotype. Other associated genetic and/or environmental modifiers may play a role in the aetiology of this condition

Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale

Searches for electroweak neutralino and chargino production in channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (E-T(miss)). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with E-T(miss). The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values

Experimental Paracoccidioides Brasiliensis Infection Increases Apoptotic Rate In Thymus

Many works have shown that immunosuppressive effects induced by systemic mycosis can be related with damage in primary lymphoid organs. Previous studies in our laboratory showed that Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was able to invade the thymus, inducing a severe atrophy. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between apoptosis and thymic alterations caused by P. brasiliensis in experimentally infected BALB/c mice. Histologically, it was observed a large number of cells showing nuclear condensation and karyorrhectic changes. By TUNEL technique, it was noticed an increase of apoptotic index during early stages of the infection. We believe that this augment could be involved in the immunosuppressive phenomenon frequently observed during the paracoccidioidomycotic infection in humans and experimental models.4141145Alvarez, F., Vellena, A., Zapata, A., Razquim, B., Histopathology of the thymus in Saprolegnia-infected wild brown trout, Salmo trutta L. (1995) Vet Immunol Immunopathol, 47, pp. 163-172Bernard, G., Mendes-Giannini, M.J.S., Juvenali, M., Miranda, E.T., Duarte, A.J.S., Immunosuppression in paracoccidioidomycosis: T cell hyporesponsivenes to two Paracoccidioides brasiliensis glicoproteins that elicit strong humoral immune response (1997) J Infect Dis, 175, pp. 1263-1267Brito, V.N., Souto, P.C.S., Cruz-Poffling, M.A., Ricci, L.C., Verinaud, L., Thymic invasion and atrophy induced by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in BALB/c mice (2002) Med Mycol, , in pressBrummer, E., Castaneda, E., Restrepo, A., Paracoccidioidomycosis: An update (1993) Clin Microbiol Rev, 6, pp. 89-117Castaneda, E., Brummer, E., Pappagianis, D., Stevens, D.A., Impairment of cellular but not humoral responses in chronic pulmonary and disseminated Paracoccidioidomycosis in mice (1988) Infect Immun, 56 (7), pp. 1771-1777Figueiredo, F., Alves, L.M.C., Silva, C.L., Tumor necrosis factor production in vivo and in vitro in response to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and wall fractions thereof (1993) Clin Exp Immunol, 93, pp. 189-194Franco, M., Mendes, R.P., Moscadi-Bacchi, M., Paracoccidioidomycosis (1989) Baillière's Clin Trop Med Comm Dis, 4, pp. 185-220Goldani, L.Z., Sugar, A.M., Paracoccidioidomycosis and AIDS: An overview (1995) Clin Inf Dis, 21, pp. 1275-1281Islam, Z., Masahiro, N., Yoshizawa, T., Yamauchi, K., Sakato, N., T-2 toxin induces thymic apoptosis in vivo in mice (1998) Toxicol Appl Pharmacol, 148, pp. 205-214Isogai, E., Isogai, H., Kimura, K., In vivo induction of apoptosis and immune response in mice by administration of lypopolysaccharide from Porphyromonas gingivalis (1996) Infect Immun, 64, pp. 1461-1466Jimenez-Finkel, B.E., Murphy, J.W., Characterization of efferent T suppressor cells induced by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis-specific afferent T suppressor cells (1988) Infect Immun, 56, pp. 744-750Karhawi, A.S.K., Colombo, A.L., Salomão, R., Production of INFg is impaired in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis during active disease and is restored after clinical remission (2000) Med Mycol, 38, pp. 225-229Ozeki, Y., Kaneda, K., Fujiwara, N., In vivo induction of apoptosis in the thymus by administration of mycobacterial cord factor (Trehalose 6,6′-Dimycolate) (1997) Infect Immun, 65, pp. 1793-1799Patiño, J.A.G., Ivanov, V.N., Lacy, E., TNF-α is the critical mediator of the cyclic AMP-induced apoptosis of CD8+4+ double-positive thymocytes (2000) J Immunol, 164, pp. 1689-1694Price, P., Olver, S.D., Gibbons, A.E., Teo, H.K., Shellam, G.R., Characterization of thymic involution induced by murine cytomegalovirus infection (1993) Immunol Cell Biol, 71, pp. 155-165Robledo, M.A., Graybill, J.R., Ahrens, J., Restrepo, A., Drutz, D.J., Roblebo, M., Host defense against experimental paracoccidioidomycosis (1982) Am Rev Respir Dis, 125, pp. 563-567Silva, M.R., Marques, A.S., Campos, D.S., Taboada, D.C., Soares, G.H., Brascher, H.M., Vargens-Neto, J.R., Lima, A.O., Imunologia na paracoccidioidomicose (1981) An Bras Dermatol, 56, pp. 227-234Singer-Vermes, L.M., Caldeira, C.B., Burger, E., Calich, V.L.G., Experimental murine paracoccidioidomycosis: Relationship among the dissemination of infection, humoral and cellular responses (1993) Clin Exp Immunol, 94, pp. 75-79Souto, J.T., Figueiredo, F., Furlanetto, Interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha determine resistance to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in mice (2000) Am J Pathol, 156, pp. 1811-1820Sutton, P., Newcombe, N.R., Waring, P., Müllbacher, A., In vivo immunosuppressive activity of gliotoxin, a metabolite produced by human pathogenic fungi (1994) Infect Immun, 62, pp. 1192-1198Teixeira, H.C., Calich, V.L.G., Singer-Vermes, L.M., D'Imperio-Lima, M.R., Russo, M., Experimental paracoccidioidomycosis: Early immunosuppression occurs in susceptible mice after infection with pathogenic fungi (1987) Braz J Med Biol Res, 20, pp. 367-36

4-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-5-(2-thienylmethyl)-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-selone: Synthesis, structural characteristics and reactions

The title compound 4-(3-methoxyphenyl)-3-(2-thienylmethyl)-4,5-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-selone 2 was synthesized by two-step procedure including condensation of 1-isoselenocyanato-3-methoxybenzene with 2-(2-thienyl)acetohydrazide to selenosemicarbazide 1 and its intramolecular cyclization. Oxidation of selone 2 by atmospheric oxygen or hydrogen peroxide furnished corresponding diselenide 3 or product of elimination of selenium 1,2,4-triazole 4. Alkylation of compound 2 by benzyl chloride leads to the formation of selenide 5. The synthesized compounds have been characterized by spectroscopic techniques and the structures of 3,4 and 5 were confirmed by X-ray diffraction techniques and the supramolecular contacts were analyzed by Hirshfeld surface analyses. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

A Single Nucleotide Variant In The Promoter Region Of 17β-hsd Type 5 Gene Influences External Genitalia Virilization In Females With 21-hydroxylase Deficiency

In 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD), there is an influence of genotype on the severity of external genitalia virilization. However, females carrying mutations predicting a similar impairment of enzymatic activity present a wide variability of genital phenotypes. In such cases, interindividual variability in genes related to the sex steroid hormone pathway could play a role. Objective: To evaluate the influence of POR, HSD17B5 and SRD5A2 variants on the severity of external genitalia virilization in 21-OHD females. Design and Patients: Prader stages were evaluated in 178 females with 21-OHD from a multicenter study. The 21-OHD genotypes were divided into two groups according to their severity: severe and moderate. The influences of the POR p.A503V, HSD17B5 c.-71A>G, HSD17B5 c.-210A>C, and SRD5A2 p.A49T and p.V89L variants on the degree of external genitalia virilization were analyzed. Results: The POR p.A503V, HSD17B5 c.-71A>G, HSD17B5 c.-210A>C, and SRD5A2 p.A49T and p.V89L variants were found in 25, 33, 17, 1, and 31% of the alleles, respectively. In uni- and multilinear regression, HSD17B5 c.-210A>C has a significant influence on the degree of external genitalia virilization. This variant was also identified with a higher frequency in the most severely virilized females. Conclusion: We demonstrated that a variant in the promoter region of HSD17B5 related to fetal androgen synthesis influences the genital phenotype in 21-OHD females. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.85533333