An analysis of entorhinal cortex projections to the dentate gyrus, hippocampus, and subiculum of the neonatal macaque monkey.

The entorhinal cortex is the primary interface between the hippocampal formation and neocortical sources of sensory information. Although much is known about the cells of origin, termination patterns, and topography of the entorhinal projections to other fields of the adult hippocampal formation, very little is known about the development of these pathways, particularly in the human or nonhuman primate. We have carried out experiments in which the anterograde tracers (3) H-amino acids, biotinylated dextran amine, and Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin were injected into the entorhinal cortex in 2-week-old rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We found that the three fiber bundles originating from the entorhinal cortex (the perforant path, the alvear pathway, and the commissural connection) are all established by 2 weeks of age. Fundamental features of the laminar and topographic distribution of these pathways are also similar to those in adults. There is evidence, however, that some of these projections may be more extensive in the neonate than in the mature brain. The homotopic commissural projections from the entorhinal cortex, for example, originate from a larger region within the entorhinal cortex and terminate much more densely in layer I of the contralateral entorhinal cortex than in the adult. These findings indicate that the overall topographical organization of the main cortical afferent pathways to the dentate gyrus and hippocampus are established by birth. These findings add to the growing body of literature on the development of the primate hippocampal formation and will facilitate further investigations on the development of episodic memory

Life and Death of Immature Neurons in the Juvenile and Adult Primate Amygdala.

In recent years, a large population of immature neurons has been documented in the paralaminar nucleus of the primate amygdala. A substantial fraction of these immature neurons differentiate into mature neurons during postnatal development or following selective lesion of the hippocampus. Notwithstanding a growing number of studies on the origin and fate of these immature neurons, fundamental questions about the life and death of these neurons remain. Here, we briefly summarize what is currently known about the immature neurons present in the primate ventral amygdala during development and in adulthood, as well as following selective hippocampal lesions. We provide evidence confirming that the distribution of immature neurons extends to the anterior portions of the entorhinal cortex and layer II of the perirhinal cortex. We also provide novel arguments derived from stereological estimates of the number of mature and immature neurons, which support the view that the migration of immature neurons from the lateral ventricle accompanies neuronal maturation in the primate amygdala at all ages. Finally, we propose and discuss the hypothesis that increased migration and maturation of neurons in the amygdala following hippocampal dysfunction may be linked to behavioral alterations associated with certain neurodevelopmental disorders

Introducing the INSIGNIA project: Environmental monitoring of pesticides use through honey bees

INSIGNIA aims to design and test an innovative, non-invasive, scientifically proven citizen science environmental monitoring protocol for the detection of pesticides via honey bees. It is a pilot project initiated and financed by the European Commission (PP-1-1-2018; EC SANTE). The study is being carried out by a consortium of specialists in honey bees, apiculture, chemistry, molecular biology, statistics, analytics, modelling, extension, social science and citizen science from twelve countries. Honey bee colonies are excellent bio-samplers of biological material such as nectar, pollen and plant pathogens, as well as non-biological material such as pesticides or airborne contamination. Honey bee colonies forage over a circle of about 1 km radius, increasing to several km if required depending on the availability and attractiveness of food. All material collected is concentrated in the hive, and the honey bee colony can provide four main matrices for environmental monitoring: bees, honey, pollen and wax. For pesticides, pollen and wax are the focal matrices. Pollen collected in pollen traps will be sampled every two weeks to record foraging conditions. During the season, most of pollen is consumed within days, so beebread can provide recent, random sampling results. On the other hand wax acts as a passive sampler, building up an archive of pesticides that have entered the hive. Alternative in-hive passive samplers will be tested to replicate wax as a “pesticide-sponge”. Samples will be analysed for the presence of pesticides and the botanical origin of the pollen using an ITS2 DNA metabarcoding approach. Data on pollen and pesticides will be then be combined to obtain information on foraging conditions and pesticide use, together with evaluation of the CORINE database for land use and pesticide legislation to model the exposure risks to honey bees and wild bees. All monitoring steps from sampling through to analysis will be studied and tested in four countries in year 1, and the best practices will then be ring-tested in nine countries in year 2. Information about the course of the project and its results and publications will be available in the INSIGNIA website www.insignia-bee.eu.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measurement of the partial widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks

Using the entire OPAL LEP1 on-peak Z hadronic decay sample, Z -> qbarq gamma decays were selected by tagging hadronic final states with isolated photon candidates in the electromagnetic calorimeter. Combining the measured rates of Z -> qbarq gamma decays with the total rate of hadronic Z decays permits the simultaneous determination of the widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks. The values obtained, with total errors, were Gamma u = 300 ^{+19}_{-18} MeV and Gamma d = 381 ^{+12}_{-12} MeV. The results are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectation.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.

Measurement of Rb in e+e- Collisions at 182 - 209 GeV

Measurements of Rb, the ratio of the bbbar cross-section to the qqbar cross- section in e+e- collisions, are presented. The data were collected by the OPAL experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies between 182 GeV and 209 GeV. Lepton, lifetime and event shape information is used to tag events containing b quarks with high efficiency. The data are compatible with the Standard Model expectation. The mean ratio of the eight measurements reported here to the Standard Model prediction is 1.055+-0.031+-0.037, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters