Growth and magnetic characterization of Co nanoparticles obtained by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition

We present a detailed study on the morphology and magnetic properties of Co nanostructures deposited onto oxidized Si substrates by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition. Generally, Co disks of nanometric dimensions are obtained just above the ablation threshold, with a size distribution characterized by an increasingly larger number of disks as their size diminishes, and with a maximum disk size that depends on the laser power density. In Au/Co/Au structures, in-plane magnetic anisotropy is observed in all cases, with no indication of superparamagnetism regardless of the amount of material or the laser power density. Magnetic force microscopy observations show coexistence of single-domain and vortex states for the magnetic domain structure of the disks. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements point to saturation magnetization values lower than the bulk, probably due to partial oxidation of the Co resulting from incomplete coverage by the Au capping layer.Work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences (Grant No. DE-FG02-06ER46273), NSF FOCUS Center, the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (References No. PR2005-0017 and No.MAT2005-05524-C02), Comunidad de Madrid (Reference No. S-0505/MAT/0194 NANOMAGNET), and CSIC (Reference No. 200650I130). Support from the SRS staff during the XMCD experiments is greatly acknowledged. Y.H. and L.M. also acknowledge financial support from the “Ramón y Cajal” and “Juan de la Cierva” programs, respectively, from the Spanish Ministerio de Investigación y Ciencia and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).Peer reviewe

Leishmania (L.) mexicana infected bats in Mexico: novel potential reservoirs

Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana causes cutaneous leishmaniasis, an endemic zoonosis affecting a growing number of patients in the southeastern states of Mexico. Some foci are found in shade-grown cocoa and coffee plantations, or near perennial forests that provide rich breeding grounds for the sand fly vectors, but also harbor a variety of bat species that live off the abundant fruits provided by these shade-giving trees. The close proximity between sand flies and bats makes their interaction feasible, yet bats infected with Leishmania (L.) mexicana have not been reported. Here we analyzed 420 bats from six states of Mexico that had reported patients with leishmaniasis. Tissues of bats, including skin, heart, liver and/or spleen were screened by PCR for Leishmania (L.) mexicana DNA. We found that 41 bats (9.77%), belonging to 13 species, showed positive PCR results in various tissues. The infected tissues showed no evidence of macroscopic lesions. Of the infected bats, 12 species were frugivorous, insectivorous or nectarivorous, and only one species was sanguivorous (Desmodus rotundus), and most of them belonged to the family Phyllostomidae. The eco-region where most of the infected bats were caught is the Gulf Coastal Plain of Chiapas and Tabasco. Through experimental infections of two Tadarida brasiliensis bats in captivity, we show that this species can harbor viable, infective Leishmania (L.) mexicana parasites that are capable of infecting BALB/c mice. We conclude that various species of bats belonging to the family Phyllostomidae are possible reservoir hosts for Leishmania (L.) mexicana, if it can be shown that such bats are infective for the sand fly vector. Further studies are needed to determine how these bats become infected, how long the parasite remains viable inside these potential hosts and whether they are infective to sand flies to fully evaluate their impact on disease epidemiology

Systematic Collaborative Reanalysis of Genomic Data Improves Diagnostic Yield in Neurologic Rare Diseases

Altres ajuts: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut; Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement i CERCA Program; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; Instituto Nacional de Bioinformática; ELIXIR Implementation Studies (CNAG-CRG); Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Red de Enfermedades Raras; Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa; European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).Many patients experiencing a rare disease remain undiagnosed even after genomic testing. Reanalysis of existing genomic data has shown to increase diagnostic yield, although there are few systematic and comprehensive reanalysis efforts that enable collaborative interpretation and future reinterpretation. The Undiagnosed Rare Disease Program of Catalonia project collated previously inconclusive good quality genomic data (panels, exomes, and genomes) and standardized phenotypic profiles from 323 families (543 individuals) with a neurologic rare disease. The data were reanalyzed systematically to identify relatedness, runs of homozygosity, consanguinity, single-nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions, and copy number variants. Data were shared and collaboratively interpreted within the consortium through a customized Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform, which also enables future data reinterpretation. Reanalysis of existing genomic data provided a diagnosis for 20.7% of the patients, including 1.8% diagnosed after the generation of additional genomic data to identify a second pathogenic heterozygous variant. Diagnostic rate was significantly higher for family-based exome/genome reanalysis compared with singleton panels. Most new diagnoses were attributable to recent gene-disease associations (50.8%), additional or improved bioinformatic analysis (19.7%), and standardized phenotyping data integrated within the Undiagnosed Rare Disease Program of Catalonia Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform functionalities (18%)

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE : survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

Funding for the WEAVE facility has been provided by UKRI STFC, the University of Oxford, NOVA, NWO, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Isaac Newton Group partners (STFC, NWO, and Spain, led by the IAC), INAF, CNRS-INSU, the Observatoire de Paris, Région Île-de-France, CONCYT through INAOE, Konkoly Observatory (CSFK), Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA Heidelberg), Lund University, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), the Swedish Research Council, the European Commission, and the University of Pennsylvania.WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366-959 nm at R ∼ 5000, or two shorter ranges at R ∼ 20,000. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for ∼ 3 million stars and detailed abundances for ∼ 1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey ∼ 0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey  ∼ 400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in z 1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z > 2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.PostprintPeer reviewe

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366$-$959\,nm at $R\sim5000$, or two shorter ranges at $R\sim20\,000$. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for $\sim$3 million stars and detailed abundances for $\sim1.5$ million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey $\sim0.4$ million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey $\sim400$ neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in $z<0.5$ cluster galaxies; (vi) survey stellar populations and kinematics in $\sim25\,000$ field galaxies at $0.3\lesssim z \lesssim 0.7$; (vii) study the cosmic evolution of accretion and star formation using $>1$ million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at $z>2$. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.Comment: 41 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366−959\,nm at R∼5000, or two shorter ranges at R∼20000. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for ∼3 million stars and detailed abundances for ∼1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey ∼0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey ∼400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in z1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z>2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator

Projeto Hashtags: comunicação de risco para COVID-19 na comunidade imigrante brasileira em Boston

A comunicação de risco adequada e o engajamento comunitário têm sido considerados estratégias essenciais para a mitigação da COVID-19. Assim, o objetivo deste relato é descrever as ações do Projeto Hashtags direcionadas à comunidade imigrante brasileira da região de Boston. A primeira etapa ocorreu pela participação de um pesquisador em programas de uma rádio local e publicações no Facebook. A segunda etapa se deu pela colaboração de pesquisadores em dois treinamentos para trabalhadores. As ações aconteceram no período de março a junho de 2020. Para melhor descrição da experiência e avaliação do alcance das ações do Projeto Hashtags, registrou-se a média de ouvintes por programa, visualizações por postagem e registro das falas de ouvintes/participantes. De nove programas de rádio, foram obtidos dados de audiência de sete, com média de 743 ouvintes durante a transmissão do programa. O primeiro treinamento para trabalhadores obteve 835 visualizações registradas no Facebook logo após a live. Já o segundo obteve a participação de 15 colaboradores do Consulado Geral do Brasil em Boston. Quanto às postagens na mídia digital, foram compartilhados 13 vídeos, 7 reportagens e 25 panfletos virtuais, com média de 279 visualizações por postagem em 23 de abril de 2020. A partir do registro de falas, observou-se que as informações fundamentais sobre a doença foram compreendidas e assimiladas, e pode estimular mudanças de rotina e compartilhamento de tais informações. A comunicação de risco realizada em colaboração com membros da comunidade facilitou a propagação de informações confiáveis, em português, em resposta ao surto da COVID-19. Palavras-chave: Comunicação em Saúde; Coronavírus; Pandemia; Participação da Comunidade; Redes Comunitárias Hashtags Project: COVID-19 risk communication for Brazilian immigrant community in Boston Abstract: Adequate risk communication and community engagement have been considered essential strategies for the mitigation of COVID-19. Thus, this report aims to describe the actions of the Hashtags Project directed to the Brazilian immigrant community of the Boston region. The first stage occurred through the participation of a researcher in local radio programs and Facebook posts. The second stage was the collaboration of researchers in two training sessions for workers. The actions took place from March to June 2020. For a better description of the experience and evaluation of the scope of the actions of the Hashtags Project, the average number of listeners per program, views per post, and record of the speeches of listeners/participants were registered. From nine radio programs, audience data of seven were obtained, with an average of 743 listeners during the program broadcast. The first training for workers got 835 views registered right after the live on Facebook. The second obtained the participation of 15 employees of the Consulate General of Brazil in Boston. As for digital media posts, 13 videos, seven reports, and 25 virtual flyers were shared, averaging 279 views per post on April 23, 2020. From the speech registers, it was observed that the essential information about the disease was understood and assimilated and can stimulate routine changes and sharing of such information. The risk communication carried out in collaboration with community members facilitated the dissemination of reliable information in Portuguese in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Keywords: Health Communication; Coronavirus; Pandemic; Community Participation; Community Network

Little hearts changing lives no processo de cocriação

O programa Little Hearts Changing Lives (LHCL) é o braço extensionista do primeiro estudo genético e familiar relacionado a doenças cardiovasculares no Brasil - Baependi Heart Study. Traz em seu bojo a pesquisa participativa comunitária, garantindo que a comunidade seja o centro no processo de cocriação de subprojetos desenvolvidos por este programa. O termo cocriação do cuidado, por sua vez, está relacionado à qualidade de interação produtiva entre paciente-profissionais de saúde, e é caracterizado por manter um canal aberto de comunicação, cooperação, apoio à tomada de decisão e aumento do bem-estar social. O programa LHCL, iniciado entre 2014 e 2015, une o lúdico às atividades práticas, com ações em Medicina Preventiva, ampliando o espectro para a reflexão sobre as relações entre discentes, docentes e comunidade. Este programa é constituído por conceitos relacionados à Aprendizagem Criativa. A primeira fase do programa aconteceu nas escolas regulares de Baependi e Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, com a participação de 14 discentes e respectivos docentes, alcançando 9.341 espectadores. A segunda fase ocorreu em formato de oficina para professores e educadores, em Curitiba, Paraná, e colaboração com a UFPR no formato à distância. Atualmente, em nova fase (terceira fase) nos Estados Unidos, o programa foi adaptado para a comunidade imigrante brasileira. Observou-se que a ludicidade, como estímulo à aprendizagem em assuntos específicos em sala de aula ou ambientes comunitários, se mostrou significativa e relevante. Palavras-chave: Medicina preventiva; Pesquisa Participativa; Comunidade; Relações Comunidade-Instituição Little hearts changing lives in the co-creation process Abstract: The Little Hearts Changing Lives (LHCL) program is the extension arm of the first genetic and family study related to cardiovascular diseases in Brazil - Baependi Heart Study. It brings with it the community-based participatory research, ensuring that the community is the center in the process of co-creating sub projects developed by this program. The term co-creation of care, in turn, is related to the quality of productive interaction between patient-health professionals and is characterized by maintaining an open channel of communication, cooperation, support for decision-making and increased social well-being. The LHCL program, initiated between 2014 and 2015, joins play with practical activities, with actions in Preventive Medicine, expanding the spectrum for reflection on the relationships between students, teachers and the community. This program consists of concepts related to Creative Learning. The first phase of the program took place in the regular schools of Baependi and Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, with the participation of 14 students and their professor, reaching 9,341 spectators. The second phase took place in a workshop format for teachers and educators, in Curitiba, Paraná State and collaboration with UFPR in the distance format. Currently, in a new phase (third phase), the program has been adapted for the Brazilian immigrant community in the United States. It was observed that playfulness, as a stimulus to learning on specific subjects in the classroom or community environments, has proven to be significant and relevant. Keywords: Preventive Medicine; Community-Based Participatory Research; Community-Institutional Relation